Fixing the Fox and Scarecrow
by RubberDuckies
Summary: Sasuke's angsting over the loss of his sharingan; Kakashi and Naruto set out to get it back. The diabolical Council aren't going to make it easy for them. The world is unfair and against them; how will they cope with all that's thrown at them? yonkakanaru
1. Bad Timing

**Instead of working on "Revenge" I'm starting a new story!^^; This one in yonkakanaru, a rare pairing, but awesome nonetheless. There should be more of them. I had to change the name of the fic because apparently it was too long for this site ... but it doesn't really matter, right? I WAS going to be called, "The Sly Fox, The Melancholy Scarecrow, and the Golden Sun God," but this place is a bitch and won't let me call it that! Anyway, I'm not really sure where this fic is headed, but I'm really excited about it, cuz I had a really neat idea and I hope you guys like it!^^ Oh, and in case anyone was wondering, YES, there will be smut in the future...XD**

_The Sly Fox, the Melancholy Scarecrow, and the Golden Sun God_  
Chapter One: "Bad Timing"

~Kakashi~

Three months. It had been three months since Naruto's disappearance. Kakashi wasn't worried about the boy though. Somehow he just knew he was still alive, trying to get back home. The boy was nigh indestructible. But Minato wasn't so sure. If it was anyone else, he probably wouldn't have been worried either. But this was Naruto. His son; his lover.

Kakashi's chest felt tight as he watched his sensei try to concentrate on his work and not on the absence of his most precious person. His heart didn't ache just because Minato's did too, but also because Kakashi longed for Minato to care about him like that. He knew the man loved him. He even knew he would worry if he was ever this late returning. But if Kakashi disappeared, Minato would share his grief with Naruto; they could worry together. Even if he died, Minato would still have Naruto. He would still have someone's shoulder to cry on. But he would survive if something happened to him because he'd still have Naruto. If Naruto died...even though Kakashi would be there...Minato would never love him like that.

The Yondaime tried to pretend like everything was fine; like he wasn't painfully aware of the fact that his son was missing, like he wasn't slowly dying inside, like everything was just rainbows and butterflies.

Kakashi knew better though. He could see the tightness around the blonde's eyes, the sadness lurking just behind the cheerful mask. He saw how tense his movements were; how he always seemed lost in thought with a deep frown on his striking features. He longed to gather the hurting man into his arms and whisper away all his woes; to kiss away his pain. The man would never allow it though. He was too faithful to his son.

It's not that Kakashi wasn't happy for his former student. He just wished it could have been him that Minato looked at like he was the whole world. He wished he could have been the one to slide into bed every night with the man he'd loved since even before his father killed himself. He wished he could have been the one to make the blonde light up at the very sight of him.

What if he'd have said something sooner? What if he'd been honest with his old sensei about how he truly felt about him? Could they have been together? Kakashi often wondered what would have happened between them if Kakashi hadn't been so distant. He hadn't wanted to be distant. He was just so afraid of what would happen if he got close. He didn't want to be abandoned again.

What ifs didn't matter now anymore though. He hadn't made his feelings known, and Minato had chosen Naruto. The man was happy, and Kakashi would have to be contented with that. There was nothing he could do anymore. He was taken, and Kakashi wasn't the type to steal other peoples' lovers, even if he felt it was possible.

A quiet sigh from the blonde brought Kakashi out of his reverie. He glanced over at the man from his perch in the chair in a corner of the Hokage's office. As he watched, Minato rubbed his face in his hands, groaning slightly.

"He'll come back, sensei," Kakashi said as the man leaned back in his chair, his eyes closed, rubbing a knot in his neck.

Minato froze for a moment before slouching in his chair and looking at Kakashi with haunted eyes. Nothing Kakashi said was going to ease Minato's anxiety any. The only way to do that would be to present the man with the orange enigma that was the Hokage's son. Kakashi would have gone to look for the blonde himself, but Minato refused to let him go. Kakashi didn't understand why though. He was the most likely to find him. When he'd asked the man about it, he didn't really get an answer.

Kakashi rose from his uncomfortable wooden chair and crossed the room to stand behind Minato. He gripped the blonde's shoulders firmly, his fingers and thumbs expertly working the knots and kinks out of the stressed man's muscles. "He'll come back," he said again.

Minato's head lolled forward as he let his ex-student massage him. No one was better with their hands than Kakashi. "How do you know?" he whispered.

"A hunch."

The Yondaime sighed again. "I know you're trying to comfort me, Kakashi, but your hunches just aren't doing it for me. I appreciate the effort though."

"I'm insulted, sensei," Kakashi said, feigning offense, trying to lighten the mood, "A shinobi should trust his instincts."

Minato grunted in response. "Still doesn't take away from the fact it's still just a hunch, not solid proof."

"Have my hunches ever been wrong, sensei?" Kakashi caught the flicker of a smirk crossing the man's face. It warmed Kakashi just a bit.

"Not that I can remember, Kashi."

The nickname warmed Kakashi further. He imagined the older man breathing it along his neck, smirking like he was, as their naked, sweaty skin rubbed together deliciously under tangled sheets and forgotten clothes...

Kakashi had to shake his head to rid himself of the fantasy before his sensei noticed. Even Kakashi wouldn't have been able to explain that away. What excuse is there for getting a hard-on while talking about a boy whose been missing for three months and is more than likely dead? Answer: there isn't one.

"Mmmm..." Minato moaned, settling back into his chair to enjoy the feel of Kakashi's hands. "Kashi? What is it about you that relaxes me so much? No matter what's going on, you can always make me sit back and take a deep breath. I don't know what I'd do without you."

Kakashi was quiet for a spell, not sure what to say to that. Kami-sama knew there were millions of things he would have LIKED to say, but none of them could be said under the circumstances. He finally decided on, "I don't know what I'd do without you either, sensei." Maybe it was a little revealing, but it was true, and he was really just sharing the same sentiment Minato had already expressed.

Minato leaned his head back, pushing against Kakashi's stomach, and looked up at him. He smiled warmly. At him. Kakashi swore his heart stopped beating. He struggled not to caress his jaw line or bend down and kiss those lips that made him think of ripe fruit.

Minato helped him through the moment by reaching up and ruffling his hair playfully like he always used to when he was younger. Kakashi reacted on instinct, just as he always had as a genin. He ducked away and sent a scowl Minato's way. The scowl was soon replaced by a pleased smile, though, when the blonde chuckled softly at his age-old antics.

The moment passed and Minato was back to slumping in his chair, dwelling on the lack of Naruto.

Kakashi glanced out the window and watched the sun setting for a moment. The crimson rays of the waning sun made Minato's tanned skin radiate with a warm glow while his golden hair glinted as the light glittered through it. He couldn't tear his eyes away from the man's face. He was sure he was looking at the face of an angel. He'd never seen Minato look more beautiful.

Kakashi didn't hear him the first time Minato said his name. He'd been caught staring. "Huh?" he said, confused.

Minato grinned, "What are you staring at, Kashi?"

A blush burned on Kakashi's cheeks. Good thing Minato couldn't see it. "It's late, sensei. You should probably get home. You need the rest."

"You're right..." Minato said, letting Kakashi change the subject. He stood with that languid grace that only the best shinobi had. He stretched, bending his spine backwards to work out the kinks from sitting for so long. Kakashi tried not to stare at the way Minato's muscles flowed fluidly beneath his clothing. "Walk with me?" Minato asked.

Kakashi just nodded and followed his blonde out the door and through the emptying building to the streets outside. After being caught gazing at Minato with a look that he was sure was filled with wonder or...SOMETHING Minato shouldn't have seen, Kakashi couldn't seem to look at the man at all anymore. He couldn't even speak to him. It wasn't a problem though, because Minato wasn't looking at him either. He was studying the full moon that could already be seen in the color-splashed sky.

Kakashi was finally relaxing into the peaceful silence between them when Minato's hand unexpectedly sought his out and grasped it in its calloused warmth, squeezing briefly. Kakashi glanced at the owner of the hand. He was still gazing up at the sky in thought. He looked back at their hands. Considering it for a moment, he responded with an answering squeeze.

A smiled spread across the Yondaime's face as he closed his eyes in contentment.

They walked together like that, hand-in-hand, for a few minutes, just enjoying each other's presence as the night cooled down and the moon lit up the darkness.

Kakashi could feel Minato's eyes on him, but he didn't dare look at him. He didn't trust himself.

"Did you know your hair glows in the moonlight?"

The silver-haired man glanced at him out of the corner of his eye then. "Does it?"

"Mm-hmm...I bet your skin glows too." Minato reached over with his unoccupied hand and pulled his mask down, unhindered. "Yup. It glows."

Kakashi couldn't help the small laugh that escaped him.

"What's funny?" Minato asked curiously.

"I glow in the moonlight, and you glow in the sunlight." Kakashi was a little anxious to admit he'd been staring at him back at the office, but there really wasn't any point since Minato had clearly noticed. "I don't really know why that's funny. I just thought it was."

"It is a little funny," Minato said, chuckling. "I guess I'm Apollo, the sun god, and you're..." Minato snickered, "Diane, the moon goddess."

Kakashi punched him in the arm, making the man laugh louder.

"Alright, alright, so you don't like Roman mythology. How about Greek? I'd be Helios, and you'd be...Selene."

Kakashi glared darkly at the still grinning blonde. He wasn't really angry though. The man's smile lifted his spirits; made him feel lighter. He'd made him smile like that. When he was down, he'd cheered him up, made him laugh. Not even being compared to a woman in such a way could dampen the satisfaction of his success.

Minato laughed again and pulled him by his hand to bump their shoulders together. Kakashi couldn't help but smile at the man's glee. It was contagious. The Hokage sobered after a while, but a ghost of a smile still curled his lips up at the very edges.

Their destination, the Namikaze mansion, was in view. They were less than a block away when Minato asked, "Kashi? Do you really think he's still alive?"

"I do, sensei. I wouldn't lie to you."

"Oh, really?" Minato said, giving him a sly sideways look.

"Really," he said, defensive.

"Well then...if I were to, say, shove you up against the door and kiss you, what would you do?"

Kakashi was shocked into silence for a few heartbeats. He stared at the blonde sun god, smiling at him oh-so-innocently, in disbelief. Was Minato flirting with him? What should he say? He knew exactly what he'd do if Minato kissed him, but did he really want Minato to know too? And what would the man do with that knowledge?

"_Well, I just told him I wouldn't lie to him, so I can't exactly go back on that now_," Kakashi thought to himself, his stomach turning in dread. Butterflies in his stomach, he finally answered as they climbed the steps to the front porch of Minato's home.

"I'd kiss you back, sensei."

Minato stopped and turned to him. Kakashi stopped breathing as Minato stepped closer. His heart skipped a beat when the man lifted a hand up to cup the side of his face. The look in his eye was so intense. He couldn't place whatever emotion he saw burning there. He wanted to look away, but he couldn't. The look seemed to push and pull at him all at the same time.

The heat of Minato's forehead pressing into his set Kakashi's body on fire. He wanted to feel more of that burning hot skin against his own. He wanted to feel like he was melting.

He didn't dare touch him though. He stayed perfectly still, waiting for Minato to do something. His lips were so close, but what if Minato just wanted him to hold him, comfort him? Kakashi wouldn't be able to stand it if Minato found out how he felt and was weirded out. The man would avoid him, and Kakashi would finally lose his mind. He couldn't lose Minato. Not his most precious person.

Minato's hand slid back across his cheek to grip the back of his neck. He pushed Kakashi against the door to his home and pressed their bodies flushed together, successfully making Kakashi heart start racing. His other hand rested gently on his hip, dangerously low. His fingers wiggled slightly, as if they itched to be somewhere else on Kakashi's body.

Kakashi gasped at the contact. The man was so unbelievably warm, his heat seeping into Kakashi's skin all the way to his bone. The jounin vaguely wondered if he was sweating.

The blonde pulled Kakashi's bare face closer to his with the hand on his neck and lightly brushed his lips over his, questioning.

Kakashi didn't hesitate anymore. He leaned forward those last few hairs-breadths and pressed his lips to Minato's, whimpering at the sensation. He sucked the bottom lip into his mouth and nibbled it between his teeth. He wasn't sure what had gotten into Minato all of a sudden, but he wasn't about to stop it. Maybe Minato just wanted him to help him forget, maybe this would just be a one time thing, but Kakashi didn't mind. Minato could use him whenever he pleased.

Minato opened his wider and sealed their mouths together, his tongue darting inside the warm cavern of Kakashi's mouth to explore and tussle with the creature living there. He ate from Kakashi's mouth like it was a water fountain and he'd been wandering the desert without anything to drink for days. The hand on the younger man's cheek moved down to pull his shirt out of his pants and slide over the taut skin beneath, tweaking the hard nipples and trace the toned muscles. The second hand slipped lower, inside Kakashi's pants, to grope at his ass, massaging firmly.

Kakashi moaned deeply into Minato's mouth. His hands had come up to tangle themselves in his hair so he couldn't escape. He held his head steady as his tongue fought fiercely to dominate Minato's mouth, to bury himself as deeply in the man as he possibly could. Nothing was sweeter than Minato's lips. Nothing.

Minato ground his hips against Kakashi, eliciting a whimper from him, which he promptly devoured along with the following moans. The feel of their erections rubbing against each other, even through their pants, excited them both greatly. Kakashi's hands strayed from the blonde's hair to rip his shirt up and ravish the almost too perfect skin, while Minato scrambled to get his house key in the lock so they could go inside and find a more comfortable place to continue this, whatever it was.

Kakashi thrust against Minato desperately, wrapping his legs around his waist. He was going to cum soon, even before either of them had even removed a single article of clothing. He'd wanted this for so long, thought about it for so long, fantasized about it...it was driving him wild now that it was actually happening. His senses all seemed over receptive. He was drowning in Minato's bittersweet scent of honey and sage. Minato's pants and groans sounded like they were in stereo. His skin tingled everywhere Minato touched him like the man was electrically charged.

Kakashi was getting lost in all the new sensations. He hadn't even remembered that they were still outside where the world could see them if they so wished to. No one was around, but Kakashi wouldn't have cared anyway. All he wanted was more of Minato. As much of him as he could get.

The key finally found its way into the lock and the two stumbled through the door as it swung open. Minato tripped on the doorjamb and started to fall. He tried to catch himself on the door, but Kakashi's added weight was too much for him, and they both crashed to the floor.

Kakashi wouldn't have minded if he hadn't have landed on top of someone else's legs.

The unknown person groaned when they fell on him. The two still entangled men looked up at the body that was apparently still alive. They pulled their legs up to their chest and curled into a fetal position before going still again, their breathing evening out as they slept.

Minato got up on his hands and knees and crawled to the side of the person. "Naruto!" he cried when he identified the formerly unknown body. He gathered the boy into his lap and gave him a suffocating hug, tears of relief pouring out of his eyes. "Naruto, my boy!"

The younger blonde stirred once again, his eyes cracking open with obvious effort. He looked up at his father and gave him a small smile. "Otou-san," he whispered, "I'm home."

Minato laughed through his tears and wiped some dirt off the boy's whiskered cheek. He leaned down and kissed him passionately, like he'd kissed Kakashi earlier. "Are you hurt?" he asked when he pulled back.

"Just tired."

"Sleep then. I'll take care of you," he said, petting Naruto's hair. He started to peel Naruto's blood-soaked clothes off once he'd closed his eyes and fallen unconscious again. When he was naked except for his underwear, he picked the boy up and carried him away to the bathroom, presumably to clean all the dried blood and mud off his son.

He never once looked back at Kakashi.

The jounin just lay on the ground for quite some time, shocked into paralysis at the turn of events. He wasn't sure what to think of Naruto's return. He knew what he SHOULD feel, but he was finding it difficult to feel happy or relieved in that situation. If Naruto hadn't have been there, he'd have finally gotten to be with Minato; he would have tasted that forbidden fruit.

He didn't know what to think of Minato completely forgetting his existence once he realized it Naruto either. In the back of his head, he'd known that he would be cast aside when Naruto returned, but he didn't think Minato would be so...callous, almost. It made him feel like he was nothing to Minato but a pet he kept around for when he got lonely. Like an animal that he took care of and showed affection for, but was utterly replaceable.

Kakashi slowly got to his feet and stood in the foyer for a moment, contemplating what he should do. Should he go in there and say something to Minato? Or should he just leave? He glanced at the bathroom door, the only source of light in the whole house. He couldn't do it. He couldn't go in there. What would he say anyway?

Left without any better option, he turned and exited the darkness of the home, doing his best to ignore the aching erection in his pants. Hopefully it'd be gone by the time he reached his lonely apartment. He'd rather not have to take a cold shower.

The streets were barren as he shuffled down them, trying work out his emotions. He WAS glad Naruto was alright, but...he couldn't help wish the boy had come back just a day later, even just a few hours would have been nice. And what was he going to do about Minato? Should he just pretend like nothing had happened? He sure as hell didn't want to do that. But wouldn't things be uncomfortable between them if he didn't? More than likely. Kakashi refused to believe that he'd lost Minato. They could fix things. They WOULD fix things. Kakashi needed them to...

An arm draped itself around his shoulders. "You look down, Hatake," a deep baritone stated. Kakashi hadn't heard the man coming, or sensed his presence at all. But then again, he'd never been able to detect the sannin. "Girl troubles?" Jiraiya asked.

"Something like that," Kakashi mumbled.

"Anything I can do to help?"

Kakashi just shook his head.

Jiraiya nodded sagely. Kakashi felt like laughing at that though. The sage nodding sagely. He wasn't sure why he found that funny. It was either because it was late and he was tired and slap-happy, or because he was on the verge of having a breakdown. It wasn't really all that late, and he wasn't very tired either, but Kakashi refused to break down in front of his favorite author. He would NOT make a fool of himself.

"What are you doing here, Jiraiya?" Kakashi asked so he would stop thinking about how he was probably going to dissolve into tears when he was alone. "I thought you'd be out doing research at this time of night."

Jiraiya shrugged. "Ran out of cash."

Kakashi chuckled and poked the older man in the ribs. "You're not getting any from me, old man."

The old toad sage laughed, dodging away from the offending finger. "I wasn't going to ask for any!"

"Then why are you here?"

"Can't a guy wanna hang out with his buddy?" Jiraiya asked, feigning innocence. Not his strong suit.

Kakashi just gave him a deadpanned look.

"Alright, so I do have an agenda..." The sannin went back to walking beside him with an arm around him. Kakashi didn't mind. He was warm, and Kakashi was starting to shiver. Odd. It wasn't cold outside...

"And what would that agenda be?"

"Well...there was something I wanted to talk to you about, but it can wait."

"It's okay. We can talk now."

Jiraiya took a deep breath and seemed to consider it before shaking his head. "No, you're clearly upset about something. We'll talk tomorrow, over lunch."

"I have to train with Sakura and Naruto tomorrow afternoon," Kakashi said. He would be busy during lunch.

"Sakura's working at the hospital tomorrow, and..." Jiraiya looked down at him, "Naruto?"

"He's back. We just found him in the foyer."

"We?"

"Minato and I."

Jiraiya's brow rose in surprise. "You and Minato, huh? Guess I should have seen that one coming," he said, turning his gaze up to the stars, grinning.

"Seen what?"

Jiraiya shot him a look. "Don't give me that, Hatake. I'm not Naruto; I have a sense of perception. Something happened between you two, didn't it? And it didn't go well, did it? That's why you're so down."

Kakashi sighed in defeat. "You're right."

"Tell me."

Kakashi summarized what happened as briefly as he could, afraid too go into the details.

Jiraiya didn't comment right away. He just considered everything Kakashi had told him, what little he did tell him.

"I don't think you should worry just yet. Taking advantage of someone, especially someone he cares about, doesn't sound like something Minato would do. Wait and see what happens. It might not be as bad as you think," Jiraiya said as they stopped in front of Kakashi's apartment. "And I doubt Minato will let the boy train the day after he returned, injured, from a three month long disappearance."

"Thanks for the advice," he said, forcing a smile. There wasn't really anything else for him to say. Jiraiya had never steered him wrong before, not in a serious situation at least. He'd try to take his advice, but it wouldn't be easy.

Jiraiya put a comforting hand on his shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile before turning and leaving with a, "I'll stop by at lunch tomorrow. Have food," tossed over his shoulder.

Kakashi opened his door and slipped inside his den to lick his wounds and rest.

**Yeah, so I'm experimenting with POVs. I usually do 3rd person omniscient, but this time I'm gonna do 3rd person limited. Tell me what you thinks!:D Because reviews are love!3**


	2. Waking Up

**Wow, this chapter is LONG O_O I've never written a chapter this long before. Over 7500 words! Anyways, hopes you likes it :3**

_The Sly Fox, the Melancholy Scarecrow, and the Golden Sun God  
_chapter 2: Wake Up

Four Months Ago

~NARUTO~

Naruto watched his friend lie curled up on his bed, ignoring the world, and tried not to cry. The bed wasn't really even a bed. It was more like a military cot. The whole room, actually, was very Spartan in style, if you can call it a style. It was like a prison cell, which it basically was. It killed Naruto to see his friend cooped up in his little house, watching constantly like he was a wild animal.

Sasuke had been in Konoha for almost six months now. Naruto had finally managed to drag him back kicking and screaming after they had yet another battle of epic proportions, which, thankfully, ended much better than their last one.

When Naruto had handed Sasuke over to the ANBU squad that greeted him at the gate, he'd expected them take him to prison for a while, he even expected the harsh interrogation from Ibiki, but he certainly did NOT expect the council to remove Sasuke's eyes, leaving him blind. He'd known they would have to do something about the Uchiha's sharingan, but did they really have to take his eyes completely out of their sockets? Couldn't they have just sealed them or something? Wasn't there a way to remove just the sharingan and leave the rest of the eye behind so he could at least still see?

Naruto had pleaded with his father to do something, but there was nothing he could do; the council had all agreed with the decision. It was out of Minato's hands. The only way to get Sasuke's eyes back was to convince the council he wouldn't be a danger with them. And Sasuke wasn't making that very easy. Even without his eyes, he'd still managed to send four of his six ANBU guards to the hospital.

It burned Naruto up inside to see his friend slowly wasting away. And he couldn't help but feel responsible. He'd been the one to bring him. He'd been the one to give him over to the mercy of the council, who didn't seem to know what mercy even was. He was the one who had done this to him, reduced him to this. He'd broken his best friend, his brother.

"It's nice outside, Sasuke, do you wanna go sit in the sun with me?" Naruto asked.

He didn't get an answer. He never did nowadays. When he'd first returned, Sasuke used to at least verbalize his refusals of Naruto's invitations, usually with a nostalgic, "Dobe," or "Idiot." Now all he did was lie in bed and mope. He'd steadily gotten worse as time passed. First he'd stopped letting Naruto force him to go places, then he'd stopped training his other senses to make up for his blindness, then he'd stopped eating the food Naruto brought him, and then he just stopped doing ANYTHING. He didn't eat unless Naruto shoved food down his throat, he didn't speak, he didn't even get up to murder Naruto for being his usual moronic self.

Frankly, Naruto was worried. And that was putting it lightly. Sometimes he couldn't sleep at night because all he could think about was Sasuke lying awake, alone, in his barely disguised prison cell. If Sasuke didn't get his eyes back soon, Naruto was afraid he might actually die from depression. And he did not go through all that trouble to bring the overemotional Uchiha back just so he could slowly kill himself while he watched. Naruto was a man of action, and if pestering the brooking traitor wasn't going to work this time, then he'd have to find another plan of action!

However, it seemed there was only one way to cure the Uchiha of his self-imposed ailment. He had to get his eyes back. And the only way to do that was to get the council's approval, to convince them that Sasuke would be an asset to Konoha, not a liability. If the boy didn't give up trying to destroy the village, he'd be blind for the rest of his life, which wouldn't be very long if things didn't improve soon.

Naruto knelt by Sasuke's bed. The raven-haired boy was lying on his side, his back to Naruto. The blonde reached out and poked Sasuke in the shoulder experimentally.

Nothing.

He did it again. And again. And again, and again, and again…until his arm actually started to hurt. But still, Sasuke didn't voice a single complaint. Alarmed more than ever, Naruto got up and sat on the edge of the bed. Sasuke's empty eyes were closed, his face peaceful, like he was asleep, but Naruto wasn't fooled. All that irksome poking and he wasn't even frowning. Beyond creepy…

"Sasuke?" Naruto inquired softly, rubbing his bicep soothingly, "Are you hungry? You've gotta be; you haven't eaten in days…Do you want some ramen? I'll go get you some. Or maybe something else? I know you like sushi. Tekka's your favorite, right? Tuna?"

Not surprisingly, Sasuke didn't answer. He didn't even react to Naruto's words.

Naruto's chest tightened with anxiety. Sasuke might be a bastard in every way imaginable, but he was still his brother, and it pained him to see him in that state. Naruto knew what it felt like to be that utterly hopeless; he knew that gnawing cold that seemed to freeze your very bones, getting colder everyday, making it harder and harder to fight it, to ignore it, until you just couldn't blow on that tiny flame inside you to keep it alive anymore. Sasuke himself had been one of Naruto's icy blizzards. If it hadn't been for the people he loved, his father especially, he never would have been able to melt that ice.

Now Naruto had a burning lake of fire, the good kind, dancing inside him, keeping him warm and that ice melted. In fact, Naruto's Will of Fire was too big for him to keep all to himself, so he wouldn't. He would use that extra burst of hope and determination to help Sasuke. He would be the flame that melted Sasuke's icy interior and banish his hopelessness. He would not let his friend die like this.

Naruto repositioned himself in the bed with Sasuke so he was spooning with the smaller boy from behind. He draped his arm across the Uchiha's chest and held him tight, his face in his neck. On a better day, Sasuke would have kicked him out of the bed and called him a fag for wanting to snuggle with him, and the fact that he wasn't pushed away actually hurt Naruto more than being called a fag.

"Just hold on, Sasuke, I'll fix this. Don't give up yet," he whispered into his ear.

Naruto knew what he was going to have to do to get Sasuke's eyes back. It wasn't going to be pleasant, and it would change his life forever, and not for the good, but he had to do it. If Sasuke died, he wouldn't be able to live with himself, knowing there was something he could have done to save him.

Naruto waited until Sasuke was asleep before leaving. He slipped out of the bed and covered Sasuke with a blanket, glancing out the window at the slowly sinking sun. He'd better hurry. There was one thing he'd thought of while cuddling with Sasuke that he wanted to try before he was forced to fallback his last resort.

--

The Hokage Tower was busy when Naruto got there. That day was one of the three days a week that the council met and made big decisions for Konoha. When the meeting was in session, all was quiet in the building, but during breaks, everyone ran around like a chicken with its head cut off. Kami-sama only knew what they were all doing; all work was put on hold when the council met, so there shouldn't have been anything for them to do, but they still seemed to find something.

Naruto walked casually up the face of the building, his hands in his pockets, choosing not to try and navigate his way through the zoo inside. His father's window was always open anyway.

~MINATO~

Minato was already facing the window when Naruto finally reached it and climbed inside. Naruto hadn't tried to conceal himself, instead letting his father feel him coming.

"I was wondering if I was going to get to see you today," Minato greeted him with a bright smile. He always enjoyed Naruto's visits, especially on council days. The council members were such cold old hacks. Seeing Naruto was refreshing.

Naruto hummed in response, his eyes downcast as he perched himself on the windowsill.

"Something on your mind, son?" Minato asked, sensing Naruto's distress beneath his somber exterior.

Without looking up, Naruto answered, "Sasuke's fading."

Minato's already negative attitude just got a little bit bleaker at the defeated tone of his son's voice. He'd known for a while about the Uchiha's condition. Naruto kept him posted. But he hadn't realized it was this bad, or that it was affecting Naruto so strongly.

He would have liked to have said that he was doing all he could for Sasuke, but the truth was: he wasn't. He wanted Sasuke to suffer. And could you blame the man? Sasuke had basically ripped his son's heart out of his chest, thrown it to the ground, and stomped on it until it was nothing but a red stain in the dirt. What kind of father would he be if he hadn't wanted a little retribution for his son?

"Otou-san…" Naruto said, interrupting the silence that had followed his initial comment, "he NEEDS his eyes back. Soon."

"Naruto, you know there's nothing I can do," he said, shaking his head, "We've been over this before."

"But you said he couldn't have his eyes because he was a threat to the village with them, right?"

Minato nodded, hating the desperation in Naruto's voice, on his face, in his every movement. That traitor didn't deserve his son's love.

"Well, he isn't a threat anymore. Not to anyone but himself. Please, Otou-san…help him," Naruto pleaded.

Minato sighed, slouching in his chair, all his energy just depleting. He hated it when Naruto went on "Help Sasuke" tangents. Not only did the Hokage hold a grudge against the unfortunate Uchiha, but Naruto's devotion to the boy made him jealous. He knew Naruto wouldn't leave him for Sasuke, he didn't even like him in that way, but it still made him uneasy that he was so close to him. What was it about that disagreeable Uchiha that had Naruto hooked?

"What is it exactly that you want me to do?"

"Talk to the council. Tell them he's fading—dying."

The Yondaime took a deep breath and blew it out, his cheeks puffing as he did so. He held his arms open for Naruto, silently beckoning him to himself.

Naruto got up from his seat in the window and sat carefully in his father's lap, relaxing into his comforting embrace. He cradled his head against his chest and Minato rested his chin on top of his head.

"I'll see what I can do," Minato said quietly. He kissed Naruto's hair and rubbed soothing circles on his back. He'd do it, if only for Naruto's sake.

~KAKASHI~

Kakashi contemplated his options. He could A) try to reason with his stubborn ex-student; talk some sense into him, B) set the small barely-bigger-than-a-shack house on fire and leave the raven to get up and move if he wanted to escape death, or C) he could force him to do…something, ANYTHING.

Staring into the unseeing eyes of his formerly star student, Kakashi knew option A wasn't going to work. The boy didn't even seem to be aware of his own existence, let alone Kakashi's. And also judging form the boy's current demeanor, he wasn't too entirely sure Sasuke would care if he set the house on fire. He'd probably happily let the house crash down around him while he was roasted alive. That left the jounin with option C.

Getting up from the chair he'd been sitting in while he spoke to the Uchiha, pretending he was actually listening, he went to the bathroom and turned on the shower, leaving the curtain open. Then he went back to the bedroom to retrieve Sasuke. He pulled back the sheet covering the boy's thin frame and sat on top of him, straddling his legs. He pulled Sasuke up into a sitting position by his arms and leaned him against his chest so his hands would be free to pull his shirt up and off. He had a little trouble with Sasuke's limp arms, but he managed all the same.

Setting him back down on his back, now shirtless, Kakashi unbuttoned his pants and pulled them off, along with his underwear, in a quick motion. He did his best to avoid looking at Sasuke's groin, a blush heating his face. He was not one for casual nudity, and it hadn't even occurred to him until that moment that he would have to touch Sasuke while he was naked if he was going to bathe him. Maybe he should have tried feeding him first? It was a little late to back out now though. He already had him disrobed and the shower was on, waiting for him…

When he forcefully pulled the boy to his feet, Sasuke just went limp, like he was paralyzed as well as blind. This somewhat annoyed Kakashi, but he'd been expecting it, and was prepared to support his whole weight. Luckily he didn't weight a whole lot. It quickly became apparent that holding the pale body under his arms and dragging him to the bathroom wasn't working, so before he could really think about it too much, Kakashi picked him up in a fireman's carry, trying not to notice how close that put Sasuke's junk to his face.

With his ward in his possession, Kakashi tactfully ignored the ANBU staring at him through the window, and hefted the boy into the bathroom. He set Sasuke down on the little orange rug on the floor that Naruto had brought to, "bring a little more life to the room," he'd said, and quickly rid himself of his clothes as well. He tossed his clothes into a corner, along with his mask. Sasuke was blind, so it wasn't necessary anyway.

It took every muscle in Kakashi's body to get the frustratingly limp Uchiha into the tub. He held him firmly against the shower wall while he haphazardly soaped him up with a washcloth. He tried not to feel like a pedophile when he washed Sasuke's naughty bits. He poured some shampoo directly onto Sasuke's head, unable to take both hands away from holding him upright. He started to lather it, but was having trouble keeping Sasuke's head straight with one hand while keeping him from crumbling to the ground. He had his whole body pressed into Sasuke, holding him up, but the raven was all slick with soap now, and was sliding down no matter how hard Kakashi pushed. And his hands were busy with his hair, so he just kept on sinking. Finally, Kakashi had to abandon his hair to lift him back up.

He'd thought having their groins pressed together was as bad as it could be, but it turned out that having the boy straddle his thigh was worse. For once, he really hoped Sasuke was somehow really unconscious to what was going on, because Kakashi was sure he would die of embarrassment if Sasuke ever said anything about this…

"Come on, Sasuke, work with me," Kakashi huffed, trying to overcome his unease with the situation.

The voice he heard behind him just then wasn't helping either.

~NARUTO~

Naruto left his father's office feeling antsy. Minato had said he'd do what he could, but that was no guarantee that the council would change their minds. It was very rare that they did, even when the Hokage himself made a case to them.

The council, made up of the Sandaime's two old teammates, Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura, as well as Danzou, could be very unreasonable, even when they were seemingly trying to do what was best for the village. More often than not, the council hurt Konoha rather than helped it.

Naruto didn't trust them. He thought they were just a bunch of power-hungry old geezers with a God-complex. Especially Danzou, who had to disagree with anything and everything the Hokage said, no matter who it was.

Naruto didn't even see the point of the council. Isn't the Hokage supposed to be the one making the important decisions? Why does the council have the power to overrule the Hokage? Why do they have more power than him? Technically, the citizens of Konoha could overrule the council, but everyone was so afraid of them, they wouldn't dare. Naruto didn't think it was right that they held all the power of Konoha in their undeserving hands. That's supposed to be the Hokage's privilege, his honor. And yet, those three vultures had even his power under their thumb.

Naruto kicked at the ground in annoyance, creating a miniscule dust storm at his feet. Nothing irked him more than the arrogant audacity of the council members. He knew there was nothing he could do to stop them, but that didn't mean he had to like it. Maybe one day he or his father would find a way to oppose them.

'_Why are they even needed, anyway?_' Naruto asked himself. Sure, they were older and therefore possessed more knowledge and experience with the world; they could give the Hokage useful advice, but should they really be allowed to make decisions that effected Konoha's future and well-being? They didn't care about either of those things. They only cared about their own future and well-being. They were all just a bunch of wannabe Hokages who were all pissed that Sarutobi got named Sandaime instead of them. They just couldn't let it go.

When Naruto finally looked up from the ground to see where his feet had taken him while he was lost in thought, he wasn't all that surprised to find himself back at Sasuke's. Since he was there, he decided to shove some food down his throat before going home to make dinner for his father and himself. Naruto's force feedings were probably the only reason Sasuke wasn't in the hospital with a feeding tube attached to his stomach.

Naruto stared at Sasuke's empty bed for several minutes after letting himself in. The boy's clothes were on the floor and Naruto could hear the shower on in the other room. Had Sasuke…snapped out of it? Was he going to make it after all? A huge smile lighting up his features, Naruto all but skipped to the bathroom to gleefully tease his old rival and invite him for some ramen.

Upon entering the lavatory, however, Naruto was presented with a most peculiar sight. As he watched, Kakashi slipped a leg between the thighs of a very helpless-looking Uchiha, pressing himself flush against him.

"Come on, Sasuke, work with me," Kakashi grunted.

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!" Naruto screamed, ready to jump in the shower and rip his old perverted sensei a new asshole.

Kakashi whipped his head around and his eyes widened in alarm when he spotted Naruto.

At the sight of Kakashi's bare face, Naruto momentarily forgot the man was stark naked, holding his equally naked friend against a shower wall, doing Kami-sama only what to him. But then he shook his head to clear his thoughts, not allowing himself to note that Kakashi was even more beautiful than he'd thought.

"Naruto, what are you doing here?" Kakashi asked, clearly trying to stave off his panic. The scene did not look good.

"I might ask you the same question, sensei!" Naruto seethed, glaring menacingly at Kakashi. Naruto had know that Kakashi was a pervert, but he didn't think he was this bad. And with looks like his, even WITH the mask, how could be possibly be so desperate he'd force himself on Sasuke?

"It's not what it looks like," Kakashi said.

"Then what IS it like?!" Naruto's hands were balled into fists at his sides, his teeth clenched in barely suppressed anger. He couldn't believe Kakashi, the man he'd respected and admired since the day they'd first met, could do such a thing. He felt betrayed enough for himself and Sasuke both.

"Well, you know how Sasuke's been acting lately…I was trying to force him to—"

"TO HAVE SEX WITH YOU?! Naruto interrupted, advancing forward.

"NO! No, no! You've got it wrong, Naruto! I was just bathing him! He hasn't bathed in weeks! I was just trying to help!" Kakashi cried at him, struggling once again to keep Sasuke from falling, "He's just not cooperating…"

Naruto stopped again at Kakashi's words. He himself had been forcing Sasuke to eat…maybe Kakashi had had the same idea. But that still didn't explain some things.

"Why are you holding him against the wall like that?" Naruto wanted to believe Kakashi's intentions were pure, but he was still suspicious.

"He won't stand on his own."

"And why are you naked too?"

"Because I had to get in the shower too," Kakashi said like that was obvious, "I didn't want to get my clothes all wet. And I didn't think anyone was going to show up—"

"And catch you trying to rape Sasuke?!" Naruto interrupted once again, jumping to conclusions.

"No! I didn't think anyone was going to show up and catch me bathing him!"

Naruto could sense the irritation in Kakashi's voice. He hadn't really meant his accusation just then; he just wanted to gauge Kakashi's reaction. Irritation translated to the truth, whereas panicked denial would have been a lie. Kakashi was fairly easy to read once you got to know him. But don't tell him that…

"Alright, sensei, I believe you," Naruto relented, relaxing out of his tense fighting stance. "Do you need help?"

~KAKASHI~

Yes, he needed help. He was going to drop Sasuke any second now. But Kakashi was weary to ask Naruto for help. Would he strip like he had? Or keep his clothes on? Knowing Naruto, he'd strip. The boy had never found nudity uncomfortable, even with complete strangers. Maybe it was because Naruto had one hell of a body and had no reason to be modest, or maybe it was an animalistic instinct he got from Kyuubi.

Kakashi didn't know, but nudity bothered him. Being naked with Sasuke hadn't really bothered him too much because he was blind, but Naruto certainly wasn't. He was already uncomfortable with Naruto just being there, perfectly capable of raping him with his eyes. Having the boy naked as well was not going to be helping any. And the fact that he wasn't wearing a mask to cover up any blushes…no, a naked Naruto was not going to be good at all.

Apparently though, Naruto had taken Kakashi's silence as an affirmation to needing help. The blonde unzipped his orange jacket and shrugged it off his shoulders. The black shirt was pulled up next, revealing Naruto's perfectly sculpted shinobi body.

Kakashi looked away, turning back to his arm-full of Uchiha. This couldn't possibly get any worse. He was sure the ANBU outside were waiting for Naruto to blow up a wall with a Rasengan aimed at Kakashi's head. Either that or they were waiting to be relieved so they could go tell the Hokage his son was having a threesome with his ex-student and the traitor. Nope, this couldn't possibly get any worse.

Kakashi swallowed a groan as he heard Naruto step into the tub. He was dreading having to acknowledge Naruto's proximity. He wasn't sure how this whole double-teamed bath was going to work.

'_Treat it like a mission_,' the cold monotone voice in his head told him. It was the same emotionless voice that sometimes told him to break a man's neck instead of slitting their throat because it made less noise. Kakashi nodded to himself as if someone had actually spoken. Kakashi trusted that voice; it had never steered him wrong in the past. In fact, it had saved his life more than once.

Kakashi pulled Sasuke forward onto himself and took a step back. "Naruto, hold him up from behind."

The blonde did as he was told without a question. '_Just like it was a mission_,' Kakashi thought to himself. This wouldn't be so bad, just as long as it was a mission.

~NARUTO~

Naruto noted how Kakashi pointedly turned away when he started to undress. He couldn't possibly be uncomfortable with being naked, could he? He got naked with Sasuke. Why would it matter if he was too? The more the merrier, right? At least, it would have been that way if the situation was a bit more…sexual.

'_Maybe it's his mask_,' Naruto mused, '_Maybe it just bothers him that I saw his face_.' Even as Naruto thought it, he knew it wasn't true. He hadn't tried to hide it when he'd first startled the man, and he was sure Kakashi would have remembered to care if it really matter to him that much. Naruto had come to the conclusion long ago that Kakashi only hid his face from him because he knew it drove him up a wall.

But if it wasn't his mask, then what was it? Surely Kakashi, the man who walked around blatantly reading porn, couldn't possibly be uncomfortable naked. Naruto grinned at Kakashi's back. The irony was killing him. He desperately wanted to tease the man, and he almost did, but one glance at Sasuke and Naruto's taunt died on his lips. Now was not the time for jokes. He could make fun of Kakashi later.

Three sheets to the wind, Naruto climbed into the tub and refused to allow himself to comment on how Kakashi tensed ever-so-slightly. He wanted a moment and Kakashi seemed to relax. He picked Sasuke up, stepped back, and turned them both to face him.

"Naruto, hold him up from behind," Kakashi commanded in that toneless voice he always adopted on missions.

Naruto almost couldn't keep the smile off his face. He was treating it like a mission. How shinobi-like of him. Naruto thought it was adorable. When did Kakashi get so adorable?

Resolving to tell Minato all about it later, Naruto stepped forward and relinquished Sasuke from his sensei's arms. Sasuke was heavier than he looked, and he was so utterly still, Naruto would have thought he was dead if he couldn't feel the pulse of his heart pumping blood through his body.

Naruto watched as Kakashi's hands went immediately to Sasuke's hair, massaging the dark locks until they were frothing with peach scented suds. It looked nice. He vaguely wondered what Kakashi's fingers would feel like in HIS hair. The thought made Naruto do a double-take of sorts. Had he really just though that about his former sensei? Kakashi, who had been his highly respected Aniki when he was but a child? Not possible.

But there was no denying Naruto's lascivious thoughts when he found he couldn't take his eyes of Kakashi's pale, smooth, lightly scarred body. Good thing all Kakashi's attention was on Sasuke's hair or else he might have noticed Naruto lick his lips as he examined the curve of Kakashi's hip. He wondered what it would be like to wrap his legs around those hips…Naruto's cock twitched at the thought and he had to close his eyes and think of the wrinkly old Sandaime naked to quell his desire.

"Okay," Kakashi said after he finished soaping Sasuke's hair, "bring him forward, into the water."

Naruto did as he was told; having a hard time not raping Kakashi with his eyes like the jounin had been afraid he'd do. But it was so HARD! His body was just…perfect. His hair just begged to have someone run their fingers through it, his collar bone was pronounced on his lithe frame, just waiting for someone to nibble along it, and his slender hips were practically screaming for someone to wrap their legs around them, to present them with something for them to thrust into. Naruto didn't understand why the man was also so hesitant to go to onsens with them when they were genin. If he did go, he'd always wait until the rest of them had already bathed and then he'd situate himself in a corner and shroud himself with a mist jutsu. Naruto had always figured he did it because he had some horrible scars or something that he didn't want people to see, because he always wore his mask, so that couldn't be it. But he didn't have any horrendous scars, and he was sexy as hell, so why was he so meek?

Kakashi moved back as Naruto came forward, dragging his load along with him. The water drenched Kakashi, flattening his hair, and running down his oh-so-tempting body. A single stream had caught Naruto's explicit attention. It ran from behind his hear, down his delicate neck, along that beautiful collar bone, down the center of his chest, cutting its way through the middle of his abs, and sliding down along his very impressive penis. It was fairly large in its softened state, and Naruto couldn't tear his eyes away from it, his mind freely imagining how big it would be filled with hot blood coursing through it.

Sasuke turned his head away from Naruto's neck, shocking the boy out of his perverted thoughts. The raven was frowning, and Naruto realized it was probably because thinking about Kakashi with a boner had made excited him just a little too much, and now he had a boner of his own pressing into Sasuke's ass, which, he concluded, was bothering the boy just a tad. '_Well_,' he thought, '_at least he isn't completely gone yet…_'

"Sasuke?" Naruto said, trying to distract himself from his erection. But it wasn't helping that it was pressed into Sasuke's warm ass, being rubbed gently every time he moved.

'_Perv_…' Naruto heard Sasuke's voice in his head. A genjutsu.

"Can you stand up? Please?" he asked, leaving the, "So my cock isn't nestled between your asscheeks?" unsaid.

The raven sighed, and started supporting his own weight. "Why can't you two just leave me alone…?"

Naruto released him, but stayed close so as to hide the state of his arousal from Kakashi. "Because you're too stupid to take care of yourself, idiot," Naruto quipped half-heartedly.

"Because we care about you," Kakashi corrected, giving Naruto a scolding frown.

"Did you two ever stop and think that maybe I didn't want to be taken care of?" Sasuke asked, stepping into the water to wash the soap away.

Kakashi was forced to step back, out of the water, when Sasuke advanced. "Well, you know how good we are at letting you do what you want."

Naruto smirked at Kakashi's dry humor. Kakashi looked up at him, smiling gently. Naruto had never seen him smile before. He'd seen his eye crinkle with amusement or joy, but he'd never seen his lips curve up in even the smallest of smiles. It made his already beautiful face gleam with an almost ethereal radiance. Naruto didn't even realize he was returning the smile until Sasuke spoke.

"You're both perverts," he said, turning to face the outside of the tub. "Naruto, get me a towel."

"Bossy little…" Naruto muttered as he exited the shower, but he knew Sasuke wasn't just being an asshole. He was helping him. He could have gotten the towel his own damn self, but he'd sent Naruto to do it so he could hide his waning, but still evident erection.

He wrapped a towel around his waist first, and then threw one to each of the two remaining in the shower, after Kakashi turned off the water. He then escaped the steamy room with the excuse of finding clothes for "the asshole," leaving them to dry themselves off where Naruto couldn't watch Kakashi like he was witnessing a live porno feed. It probably would have been smart to bring his own clothes with him, but he hadn't thought that far ahead. He had just though, '_I need out of this room—now_.'

There were now three ANBU standing in the window, peering into the room, hoping to catch a glimpse of whatever was going on inside. Clearly, they thought it would be scandalous, and Naruto couldn't really blame them for thinking that, nor could he blame them for wanting a peek. He'd be doing the same thing in their position. Still in his towel, Naruto grabbed the first shirt, pants, and underwear he could get his hands on in their drawers, and shuffled back to the bathroom. He'd never been uncomfortable showing any amount of skin, but the way the ANBU were staring at him was making even him uneasy. At least their gazes had completely rid him of his arousal.

Back in the bathroom, Sasuke was wiping the mirror off with a washcloth, his towel around his waist. Naruto didn't know why he was cleaning the mirror; it wasn't like he could really use it. Maybe it was just habit. And Kakashi was re-donning his mask, the rest of his clothes already on again. Naruto was a little disappointed, but also relieved. He handed Sasuke his clothes without a word and picked his own up to redress himself as well.

~KAKASHI~

Kakashi was glad to be in his clothes again. And he was thankful that Sasuke was up and about again. He hoped he didn't fall back into his coma-like state again after they left. And he wondered what had woken him up in the first place. Was it Naruto? The blonde had always been able to get under the Uchiha's skin no matter how hard he tried to shield himself. It stung slightly that he wasn't able to help Sasuke like Naruto could, but he would do his best nonetheless. He may not be his student anymore, and he may have surpassed him long ago, but Kakashi still felt responsible for the boy, so he'd take care of him to the best of his ability.

His mask back in place, Kakashi walked up the wall and across the ceiling of the bathroom so he wouldn't disturb the two dressing boys beneath him. He dropped back down to the floor when he was outside the room and closed the door behind himself politely, to shield his students from the hungry eyes of the, now six, ANBU at the window.

Kakashi glared at them. They should be patrolling the perimeter, not standing in the window having sexual fantasies about a couple of under-aged boys like a bunch of serial rapists. Only one of the ANBU seemed effected by Kakashi's glare. He was probably a rookie. The other ANBU were intimidated by him, but they wouldn't show it. He may not be ANBU anymore, but that didn't make his reputation any less daunting. The group dispersed reluctantly, not willing to take the risk of Kakashi reporting them for their indecency.

Kakashi left the house and took to the rooftops in the direction of Ichiraku's.

~NARUTO~

As soon as the door closed behind Kakashi, Naruto wasn't surprised to see Sasuke's fist coming at his stomach. He didn't bother to dodge it; that would only earn him more pain. The fist connected with his solar plexus, knocking all the wind out of him and making him double over in pain.

Sasuke grabbed his head and smashed down into his knee. "You fucking perv! You owe me big time!" he growled.

Naruto couldn't bring himself to be angry with Sasuke for hitting him. Not just because he deserved it for what had happened in the shower, but also because Sasuke was acting normal again. This was the Sasuke he knew and loved for some odd reason that no one, not even himself, could figure out why.

"Sorry…I just never knew sensei was so hot…" Naruto wheezed, falling to his knees.

"What would your dad think if he knew you were having fantasies about his student?" The Uchiha went back to putting his shirt on, satisfied with his revenge.

"He'd probably tease me about it and then do naughty things to me while asking me all about what I was fantasizing about."

"Hn," Sasuke grunted, "the Yondaime isn't a pervert like you are."

"I think you're seriously underestimating my father's kinkiness," Naruto retorted, "Where do you think I get it from?" Naruto got up from the floor carefully, nursing his stomach where a bruise was already starting to darken his tanned skin.

"That toad sage."

Naruto grinned, "Maybe in a roundabout way. Otou-san got it from him, and I got it from Otou-san."

Sasuke sniffed, showing indifference to the subject.

"Where do you think sensei went?"

"Hell if I know."

"Do you think he's coming back?"

"Hope not."

Naruto scowled at his companion, but the look was lost on him. "Did you see how embarrassed he was about the whole thing?" Naruto asked absently.

"No. I didn't," Sasuke said, going still. His hands were on either side of the sink, his blind eyes staring at the mirror in front of him.

Naruto immediately regretted the way he'd phrased that question. There was a long silence between the two. Neither of them moved nor spoke. Naruto was having a hard time just breathing because it sounded so loud.

"Sasuke…I'm going to get your eyes back. I promised you, so trust me, okay?" Naruto said, looking earnestly at Sasuke's face, trying to catch any sign of emotion on it.

After a while, Sasuke nodded, and turned to leave the bathroom.

~KAKASHI~

The sun had finally slipped below the horizon, leaving the village shrouded in shadows. Lights streamed out from the different establishments along each of the streets, creating more shadows that danced as people moved on their way. Kakashi waited silently for Ichiraku to wrap up his order of seven bowls of miso ramen; six for Naruto, one for Sasuke. The two men smiled at each other politely as Kakashi accepted the package and handed the man his money.

He had to be a bit more careful returning on the rooftops so he didn't spill the ramen. Naruto was bustling at the little kitchenette of the sparse living quarters while Sasuke just sat, staring into space, in the only chair in the whole place that wasn't a simple wooden straight back that looked like someone had dug it out of a garbage heap. Just like the rug in the bathroom, Naruto had been the one to bring it. Thankfully it wasn't orange though; it was dark blue, upholstered, and much more comfortable than it looked.

"Kakashi-sensei, you're back," Naruto said, sounding surprised.

He lifted his package, "I went to get food."

Naruto's face exploded with joy at the sight of Ichiraku's ramen. By the looks of it, Naruto had been preparing to cook something for Sasuke, thinking he didn't really like ramen all that much. Naruto was an excellent chef too. Kakashi knew this from the many "family" dinners that Minato dragged him to every once in a while. Kakashi didn't really mind them, even though he pretended he did. He loved sneaking bits of Naruto's vegetables away while he was chopping them for whatever dish he'd decided to make and laughing as the boy slashed his knife at him, curses streaming from his mouth. It was too cute. And the way Minato would come up behind him and grope the boy's ass, making him squeal with shock and embarrassment. Naruto would give Minato the same treatment Kakashi got for snatching food. He loved the whole experience, but it was just his nature to oppose doing anything remotely social. Good thing Minato and Naruto both were as stubborn as mules.

In seconds, Naruto had the bowls of ramen placed neatly on the little table in a corner of the room. He beckoned them both over, and Sasuke got up with a sigh. The blonde looked at Kakashi and flicked his head to the seat to his right.

Kakashi shook his head. "I already ate, so you two go ahead." That was a lie, but he didn't want to eat with them. He wanted to go home and try and make himself feel a little less dirty about showering with his two students.

"What did you eat?" Naruto asked before he could escape. He was already turned towards the open door, ready to leave.

"Food."

"What kind of food?" Naruto leaned forward, resting his chin on his intertwined fingers.

"The kind you eat," Kakashi said, already knowing he wasn't leaving. Naruto wouldn't let him.

"Uh-huh…what did it taste like?"

"Good."

"No, I didn't ask if it was good or bad, I asked what it tasted like," the little fox-boy was smiling that that knowing smile that Kakashi swore was as close to an evil smirk as Naruto was capable of expressing.

"Uh…it was spicy," he quickly lied, not really thinking about it.

"Spicy, huh? I thought you didn't like spicy food, sensei?"

He didn't have an answer for that readily available, so he just stared at Naruto for a moment. He had this look on his face that said, "Just come over here and eat some freaking ramen with us before I have to get up and drag you over here to shove it down your throat." Kakashi sighed, swinging the door shut and walked over to the table to sit in the chair Naruto patted lightly with his hand. A bowl of ramen was pushed in front of him and he suddenly realized how hungry he actually was. He pulled his mask down, not really caring if Naruto saw his face since he'd already seen it once, along with way more of his body than Kakashi cared to remember…, and he dug into the steaming bowl. He could feel Naruto staring at him. He ignored it at first, but it was starting to annoy him.

"Didn't anyone ever teach you not to stare, Naruto?" he said, not looking up from his ramen.

"People have tried to, yes."

Kakashi glanced over at him. He had the most peculiar look on his face. Naruto had never looked at him like that, and he had no idea what the look meant. He looked somewhat…pleased, and…hungry at the same time. When Kakashi met his eyes, Naruto flashed him his usual grin, and dug into his first bowl of ramen. Kakashi pondered that look for a while, as he ate, and then gave up trying to decipher it, filing it away for later.

He finished his food and sat back to watch his students eat. Sasuke slurped his noodles as quietly as possible, doing his best not to splash the soup everywhere. Naruto, in stark contrast, noisily ate his noodles, splashing even Kakashi with his soup. He felt nostalgic. It had been so long since he'd shared a meal with his students. He wished Sakura were there with them, but she was too busy with her job at the hospital to do much else anymore.

"Ah, that was good!" Naruto proclaimed happily as he sat back in his chair, his hands rubbing his full belly. "Thanks for treating us, sensei!"

Kakashi nodded, accepting Naruto's thanks, and got up to leave. It was getting late and he really wanted out of there. He didn't know why, but he was feeling more and more anxious the longer he stayed there. He had a sneaking suspicion that his anxiety was coming from the weird way Naruto kept staring at him when he thought Kakashi wasn't looking. "Thanks for having me over, Sasuke," Kakashi said with a smile that the boy couldn't even see.

Sasuke was leaning his head on one hand, facing the window, and drumming the fingers of his other hand impatiently on the table top. "As if you'd have given me a choice…" he grumbled.

Kakashi continued to smile at the boy and ruffled his hair a little as he passed him by. The raven growled at him when he did it, but didn't bother to try and swat at him.

Closing the door behind himself, Kakashi looked up at the stars and took a deep breath of the fresh night air. It made him feel a little better. The way Naruto had been looking at him…it made him feel almost like…like he was being hunted. Which just made it feel even more unusual coming from Naruto, who wouldn't hurt a fly unless it was threatening to hurt someone he loved. Naruto wasn't the predatory type.

Kakashi put his hands in his pocket s and started walking home, telling himself to forget about it. He was probably just being overly paranoid.

**Reviews are love^^**


	3. Setback and Punishment

**And I thought the _last_ chapter was long...this one is almost TWICE as long!O_O Anyway, MinaNaru smexing ahead! Tallyho!XD**

_The Sly Fox, the Melancholy Scarecrow, and the Golden Sun God_

Chapter 3: Setback and Punishment

~MINATO~

Minato was having trouble hiding his severe aversion to returning to the council room. If there was one activity he hated more than anything else, it was definitely having to meet with the council. He would rather murder babies. That's how much he absolutely _loathed_ the three people who single-handedly caused him more strife than all his other enemies put together and multiplied by a hundred. They were rude, arrogant, self-centered, power-drunk bastards who seemed to take pleasure out of making him miserable. He was amazed he hadn't killed them all yet.

He took a deep breath to steel himself for the troubles that were sure to follow him just as soon as he opened the door and entered the lion's den. He ran his fingers nervously through his hair one last time before opening the double doors and stepping inside the eerily silent room. It was bright enough in there, the sun streaming through the large window that took up most of the wall to his left, but the foreboding vibe made it feel more like it should have been a darkened room, lit only by a pair of torches.

The piercing eyes of the council landed on him, staring like they were trying to drill a hole through his skull using just their gaze. The three of them sat in their designated seats behind the large table covered with papers. Mitokado and Utatane sat beside each other on the left, an empty seat beside Utatane, and then Danzou in the last chair on the right. Minato kept his face schooled to perfect blankness, refusing to let his eye twitch in trepidation.

Striding into the room, trying to broadcast a sense of purpose that he wasn't feeling, Minato took his seat between Danzou and Utatane. He shuffled some of his papers around, searching for the list of people they had yet to see. Finding it, and ignoring the look of disdain Danzou was burning him with, probably because of his messiness, he ordered the ANBU guard by the door to let in a man named Yokitake Sousuke, along with his wife and two daughters.

The family shuffled in, their clothes looking worse for the wear, and their demeanor not looking much better. The man was hunched over slightly, holding a hand of each of his daughters, who would have been irresistibly cute if they weren't so terribly dirty. The woman, presumably their mother, looked like she hadn't slept in a week; her hair sticking out of its messy bun every which way, her clothes crumpled. Minato instantly knew what they were there for. Refugees. He glanced down at the scroll in his hands to confirm his suspicions.

"What brings you to Konoha, Yokitake-san?" Minato asked, smiling gently after they had all bowed respectively.

"I come seeking a safe place to raise my family and start over, Yondaime-sama," the man said, eyes downcast like a submissive dog, refusing to meet the gaze of his master.

"Where are you from?"

"Grass, sir."

Ah, Grass, he should have known. That country seemed to be in constant turmoil, no matter how peaceful the rest of the world was. It was almost like the people that lived there enjoyed being in never ending danger, never knowing when the ground was just going to explode beneath their feet from a trap set by rogue guerilla ninjas looking to stir up a fight. Frankly, Minato was surprised the family had even managed to escape the country with their lives.

"Are any of you shinobi?" Utatane asked.

"Not officially…" Yokitake said.

"Explain."

"My older brother was a shinobi. He taught me some of the things he learned, but I never became a shinobi myself." Well, that explained how they escaped.

"What is your profession then?" Minato asked.

"I was a farmer in Grass…at least, until a group of rogue set fire to my crop. We had no choice but to leave." The man looked so defeated, it made Minato want to pat him on the back and tell him it would all be alright.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Yokitake-san. Why have you chosen to come to Konoha?"

"My wife's sister lives here," he answered simply, choosing to leave out the details of their shamed plea of help from the sister and her husband. Minato had seen this many times before. The family would be taken in, helped until they were back on their feet, and then they'd either start their new lives in Konoha, or leave once they were financially able.

"I'm glad you have someone to turn to in your time of need," Minato said with what he was hoping was a comforting smile. "You'll just have to fill out some paperwork and you'll be set to go."

"Not so fast, Hokage-sama," Danzou said, just as Minato was starting to think maybe the man would let this one go – _for once. _

Resisting the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose and shudder with anger, Minato calmly asked, "What seems to be the problem, Danzou?"

"He's has shinobi training. He could be a spy."

Minato wanted to strangle the man. If he were a spy, why would he admit to shinobi training? And even if they _were_ spies, who would have sent them? The world was going through an age of peace, mostly, between the villages at least. They had strong treaties with all the major shinobi countries; there was no reason to be spying. Minato highly doubted any of the Kages would spare four perfectly good shinobi to spy on their allies.

"Danzou, I think you're being overly paranoid," Minato said.

"I disagree."

'_Of course you do. Do you ever _not_ disagree?'_ Minato complained silently. "Then just what do you propose I do with them?"

"Have them interrogated thoroughly. And if they refuse to submit, then send them out of the village."

"Tell me, Danzou," Minato said, leaning back in his chair, closing his eyes, and loosing the fight not to pinch the bridge of his nose in irritation, "Do you enjoy making me fantasize about tying you to a chair and torturing you until you scream like a little girl?"

"Hn. I'd respect you more if you did, Namikaze," Danzou replied, utterly serious.

Minato slapped the table harshly with his hand, making the family of refugees jump, and growled, "Utatane, Mitokado, what do you think?"

"Let them be. They're harmless," Utatane said.

"I agree, but I think Sousuke-san's skills should be analyzed," Mitokado concurred.

"Fine," Minato said, scrawling some orders on a scroll and tossing it unceremoniously at Yokitake-san. The man caught it, but looked shocked by the Hokage's informality. "Take that to the woman at the desk in the waiting area. She'll give you the papers you need to fill out."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama," the man said, his whole family bowing with him again.

Minato forced a bright smile to his face, "Welcome to Konoha."

~NARUTO~

With Kakashi gone, it was just Naruto and Sasuke again. The blonde needed to get home soon; he should have started dinner an hour ago, but on the other hand, he didn't want to leave Sasuke alone. And on yet another hand, he couldn't bring the boy home with him; he wasn't allowed to leave the house after the sun went down. Maybe he could get his dad to come there…?

'_He'd sooner eat his hitae-ate…'_ Naruto thought derisively. He knew how his father felt about Sasuke. The man had expressed, more than once, a strong desire to have the boy drawn and quartered for his past actions, Naruto being the only thing keeping him from doing so.

Naruto had been a little apprehensive about leaving the negotiations with the council to his father, but it wasn't like he had much of a choice. The council hated him just as much as Minato hated Sasuke, but not as righteously so. If Naruto asked for Sasuke's eyes back, they'd all say no just because it was him asking. Minato would at least have a chance of convincing them. And although the chances were slim to none, it was better than not trying at all. There was nothing to lose. Naruto prayed to whichever god was listening that his father would be successful in his endeavor.

"Naruto?" Sasuke spoke up from his seat in the blue chair; Naruto was sprawled on the boy's bed, his hands laced behind his head.

The blonde was a little startled by Sasuke's interruption of the silence. He couldn't remember the last time the raven had been the one to do that. "Yeah?"

"What exactly are you going to…do?" the Uchiha asked hesitantly.

"About what?"

"My eyes. How are you going to get them back? You're not going to do something stupid, are you?"

Naruto grinned happily at the concern he heard in his companion's voice. Sasuke DID care…who woulda thunk? "I'm not sure what I'm gonna do yet. Did you have something in mind?"

Sasuke smirked, "I thought you might be thinking of sleeping with the council in order to get them to do what you want."

"Baka!" Naruto yelled, throwing a pillow at the snickering Uchiha. The boy caught it easily enough and his snicker turned to a deep, rumbling laugh. It felt good to hear it. Most people didn't think the last Uchiha knew _how_ to laugh.

Their laughter died away and the two fell back into silence again. Sasuke had gotten up and trudged to his cot to lie on his back beside Naruto, one knee drawn up and his hands knit together of his stomach. The boy's expression was thoughtful. The very fact that Sasuke was allowing Naruto to see his emotions play across his face was a sign of great trust and affection that wasn't lost on the blonde. The only other person he knew of that Sasuke was that comfortable with was Kakashi. He wouldn't have extended the courtesy to Sakura though, which Naruto somewhat understood. Sasuke had never bonded with Sakura quite like he had with Naruto and Kakashi. She'd always just been a nuisance to the boy. A teammate that he would have died for, but a nuisance nonetheless.

"Just don't worry about it, teme. It's my fault you lost them, so it's my responsibility to get them back for you," Naruto said.

To Naruto's consternation, Sasuke started laughing again. It wasn't the same joyful laugh as before though. It was bitter and harsh. Before he could ask the boy what he was laughing at, Sasuke answered him.

"No, dobe, it's my own fault. If I hadn't have been such a dick, I'd still have my eyes." Sasuke paused, sobering. "You always blame everything on yourself. Why do you do it? _How_ do you do it? How do you stand it? Doesn't the guilt, however unjustified, ever get to you?" Sasuke got really quiet, whisper-quiet, like he was trying to hold back tears. "How do you do it?" he asked again, barely audible.

Naruto didn't answer right away. _How do you do it?_ He just takes it. Simple as that. He grew up with the guilt. The villagers hating him; wanting him dead. He was their scapegoat. Always. Since the day his father sealed the Kyuubi in him. He's always been the one to blame. He was used to it by now. It would almost be harder for him to be _without_ guilt.

Sure, there were times where he thought he'd reached his breaking point. But then he would remember his father; Minato. For so long, he was the only one who loved him; the only one who cared for him. If he ever had any trouble with anything, if there was ever anything too hard, he'd just think of Minato and everything would turn out okay. If Minato was there for him, and he always was, then he could carry the world on his shoulders with a smile. Naruto didn't want to think about what would happen if anything ever happened to the man.

Even as he pondered this, Naruto knew he couldn't tell Sasuke that. He just couldn't. Sasuke didn't have a father, not anymore. He didn't have any family that would be there for him. He certainly had Naruto, but that wasn't the same, Naruto knew. Minato was the only person he told everything to. He didn't confide a lot of things in Sasuke, Sakura, or even Kakashi-sensei who was better at keeping secrets than Minato was. It would only hurt Sasuke more to tell him he could do it because of something Sasuke didn't, and couldn't, have.

So he lied.

"I'm just too stupid to care, I guess," he said lightheartedly, grinning at Sasuke.

Sasuke harrumphed. "Dobe…"

Even though the boy huffed, Naruto could see the ghost of a smile lilting his lips. It made his heart sing. To know that Sasuke could still smile…it was elevating, especially because he was the one to put the smile there. His smiles were so rare, always were, but now more than ever. It was be easier to win the lottery than get the grumpy boy to smile.

Sasuke sighed, stretching his back. "You should go home, dobe. It's late."

Naruto hesitated. "Are you going to be okay?" he wanted to ask if he was going to try and kill himself if he left, but obviously the Uchiha wouldn't have answered that question…Most likely the question would put him into another mood, which was the last thing Naruto wanted. It had been hard enough getting him out of the last one.

"I'll be fine. I'm not a baby like you; I can take care of myself."

Naruto sniffed in offense. "I'm not a baby!"

Sasuke grinned malignantly. "Could have fooled me."

Naruto cried out the usually, "TEME!" brandishing of his fist, but he couldn't quite muster the annoyance to attack when the Uchiha was laughing like he was. It was just too relieving. Instead of trying to cause bodily harm, Naruto opted to increase the volume of the laughter.

He sat up in the bed fell on the Uchiha with tickling fingers dancing over the boy's very sensitive stomach and along his spine. The raven giggled and cackled with glee, all the while cursing Naruto with horrible, graphic, bloody deaths. Naruto just laughed louder every time he finished describing how he was going to murder him. Naruto would have to store these memories away to remember on a rainy day.

Soon Naruto let up on his assault, letting his companion breathe for a moment. Sasuke sprawled on his stomach, face flushed and panting into his pillow. Naruto sat up on the edge of the mattress, leaning down with his elbows resting on his knees. Recovering first, Naruto reached over and ruffled Sasuke's already mussed up hair. The boy didn't complain.

Naruto stood up, still grinning, and stretched like a cat, yawing as he did so. He let out his breath in one big whoosh when he relaxed. Glancing down at Sasuke, he said, "Alright, well I'm going then. Dad's gonna be pissy if I don't have his dinner made before he gets home."

Sasuke hummed in response, closing his eyes and wiggling under the covers. "Turn off the light before you go," Sasuke ordered, snuggling into his pillow.

Naruto did as he was told and made his way quickly across the rooftops in the direction of his home.

~MINATO~

Minato leaned back in his chair, sighing with relief and massaging the painful knot in his shoulder. He would have to get Naruto to rub it away later…

The last petition of the day had been presented and dealt with. The work day was over. He could go home soon. Home to Naruto and the delicious meal that was awaiting him; home to his soft bed and a naked Naruto begging him to touch him…

He was having trouble keeping his mind off of Naruto. Specifically, he was having trouble keeping his mind off a _naked_ Naruto. Especially one tied up and sweaty, mewling around a gag stuffed in his mouth…

Danzou stood, pushing his chair back with his legs and scooping up his papers. Without a word, he turned to leave, but Minato stopped him. There was still one last issue they needed to discuss, no matter how much Minato didn't want to.

"Wait, Danzou, there's one more thing."

Danzou glanced at him, probably trying to devise the perfect way to finally break the Hokage's cool demeanor and drive him to try and rip the man to shreds. The look was enough to shift Minato's thoughts far away from Naruto and his beautiful body.

Utatane didn't give Danzou time though, when she interrupted the man's train of thought, "We are all tired and ready to return to our homes, so what is it, Minato?"

"It's about Sasuke. He's not doing well. I think we should give him his eyes back; give him a chance," the Yondaime tried not to sound too eager to get his way, which wasn't hard because he wasn't. But he didn't want to sound too fervent because then they would be less likely to grant him his wish. He'd noticed that they opposed him more when he really wanted something. It aggravated him to no end when he thought about it.

"No," Danzou immediately responded, not bothering to sit back down. Minato didn't blame him. They'd been sitting all day; standing would be a nice change. He'd get up just as soon as he could feel his legs again and he was sure they weren't going to collapse underneath his weight. Both his legs had gone to sleep hours ago…

"Why not? He hasn't tried to kill anyone for a while. He's behaved pretty well, I think, so maybe we should show him some mercy," Minato reasoned.

"No, he's too dangerous."

"I tend to agree with him, Minato," Mitokado put in, "The boy might try to destroy Konoha again. He could just be behaving well so we'll give him his eyes back."

"But he could also just be behaving well because he's calmed down and isn't going to try and destroy us all."

The three of them just stared at him like he was an idiot. Again, Minato couldn't blame them.

Minato sighed for the hundredth time that day. "If we show him mercy, maybe he won't have such a hatred for the village anymore. We have to give them back sooner or later."

"Why are you suddenly advocating the boy's case, Minato?" Mitokado asked, standing as well and walking to the window to watch the sun set. The sunlight glinted off his glasses.

"He's dying of…" Minato pinched his nose in irritation, "depression." Of all the stupid ways to die…He would think an Uchiha would have more pride in himself to at least die a bit more honorably. Then again, they had taken away his pride along with his sharingan. He probably would have preferred they castrate him…

"Minato, are you asking us to return his eyes because you want him to live, or because your son asked you to?" Mitokado didn't look away from the window as he spoke.

Minato didn't bother to answer. He could deny it, but they had all already figured it out, so there would be no point.

"Why didn't Naruto come and ask us himself?" Utatane asked.

"Because he's a coward," Danzou spat. He hated Naruto the most. The boy had humiliated him more than once, and he did not take it kindly.

"My son is _not_ a coward, Danzou," Minato said coldly, gripping the arms of his chair to keep himself from attacking the insolent little man who dared to insult his son. "In case you forgot, he was the one who brought the Uchiha back in the first place, but I doubt he would have bothered if he knew you were going to mutilate his best friend."

"He would ignore his loyalty to Konoha for a traitor? He's a dangerous, unpredictable, dishonorable _boy_ who can't be trusted."

"How _dare_ you talk about my son like that?!" Minato said, getting to his feet and stalking towards Danzou, his face screwed up with anger. "That boy has done nothing but do his best to keep this village safe! And all you can do is sit here and insult his honor?!" Danzou didn't back up when Minato approached him, even when he was only a few inches away. "He didn't have a childhood because of this village! He didn't have friends because of this village! He CONTINUES to be prosecuted for something that isn't his fault, something he can't change, something that he should be seen as a HERO for! And you have the gall to accuse him of all those things?!" He was so close; Minato was a little surprised he hadn't spit on Danzou's face by accident. "You yourself have caused several of the problems that Naruto has worked his ass off to fix!" His fists were balled up at his sides; his teeth clenched shit as a growl trickled from his lips. Nothing made him angrier than someone insulting his son, especially when it was DANZOU insulting his son; the traitorous bastard… "That boy has done more for this village in his eighteen years than you ever have! So don't you EVER talk about my son like that again, Danzou, or I swear to Kami-sama I WILL kill you, no matter the consequences!" It pissed Minato off even more that the man didn't seem at all fazed by Minato's outburst. He was just standing there, staring at him blankly with that arrogant attitude of his.

'_One of these days I really am going to kill the bastard…'_ Minato thought to himself.

"That boy is only as powerful as he is because of the Kyuubi," Danzou stated.

Minato was about to make good on his threat, but Utatane pulled him back by his collar before he could wrap his hands around Danzou's neck and squeeze the life out of the man.

"Minato! Calm yourself!" she ordered, shaking him.

"Calm down? CALM DOWN?! He just insulted my son's honor!" Minato screamed at her.

"Perhaps, but I should think attacking him would be insulting it even more. Naruto-kun is more than capable of defending his own honor, so let him."

Minato shuddered with rage. "Damn you all and your infallible reason!" He wanted to destroy Danzou, not just because he'd insulted his son, but because the man had been poking at Minato for years. The old council member did everything he could to push Minato's buttons, and though he tried to ignore it, not wanting to stoop to the man's level, he was ready to explode. He wanted nothing more at that moment than to feel Danzou's hot blood oozing between his fingers as he screamed for Minato to just kill him already. The visual brought a malicious smile to the blonde's face. It also, as it happened, made him relax.

Utatane released his coat and folded her arms back together in their sleeves. "Minato, go home, get some rest. It has been a long day."

"What about Sasuke? He's going to kill himself if he doesn't get his sharingan back," Minato said, recomposing himself.

"I'm sorry, Minato, but we do not think it is a good idea to give the boy his power back just yet. Danzou is right. It's too dangerous."

Minato ran a hand through his hair and closed his eyes to think. "Naruto is not going to be happy," he said absently, more to himself than to the council members. He heard Danzou open his mouth and prepare to say something, but Utatane shot him a look and whatever he was going to say died on his lips. It was probably for the best. Minato would have snapped if the man said one more hurtful thing about his son.

'_He's too much of a coward to say anything to Naruto's face_," Minato thought with a bit of satisfaction. Danzou's bark was worse than his bite. Too bad he was so good at getting other people to bite for him…

Gathering the mess of papers spread across the table into one haphazard pile, Minato left the room, leaving the elders to discuss his actions as he was sure they would. He probably could have handled that situation better, but Danzou was just so infuriating. He didn't know how Sarutobi could have dealt with him for so long without killing him.

Minato wondered how he was going to break the bad news to Naruto. The boy had to know it was very unlikely that his request would succeed. Even though he didn't really care about the Uchiha's future, he still felt bad for not convincing the council. He'd failed his son. The boy didn't ask for his help often. And when he did, he usually asked him as his father, not as the Hokage. Naruto refused to rely on the fact that he was the Hokage's son to get things done. Minato admired him for his strength. He was proud. His son would make an excellent Hokage one day.

The Yondaime stopped in his office just long enough to drop the pile of papers on his desk. He would sort them tomorrow. Right now, he just wanted to get home to Naruto.

He leapt out the window and speed across the rooftops as fast as he could go without using his Flying Thunder God technique. It felt good to be running, just moving really, after being stuck in that stuffy room all day. The wind swept through his tousled hair, making it ripple as he flew through the village towards his home. People waved and called out to him as he passed by, but Minato paid them no mind. All his thoughts were on the younger blonde waiting for him at their home.

~NARUTO~

Naruto's thoughts were mirroring his fathers as he fried the vegetables and noodles of the yakisoba they were going to have for dinner. Normally the scent of any food he was making would hold his attention with its tantalizing aroma, but Naruto was too worried about the outcome of his father's plea. He knew it would probably fail; he was prepared for that, but it still worried him. The not knowing for sure what they'd decide was making him antsy.

His dish complete, Naruto scooped the food onto a serving platter and placed in the center of the already set table. Then all he had to do was wait. It was worse having to wait with nothing to do. Before, cooking had distracted him for a time, but now there was nothing. He would just have to watch the hands of the clock tick by as he passed the time. He rested his left elbow on the table and slumped his head against his hand, tapping the wooden table top with a single finger from his right hand.

It turned out that Naruto didn't have to wait long. His father came bursting through the front door not ten minutes later, smelling like the fresh night air and sweat. Naruto exploded from his seat like it was one fire and ran to his father, encasing him in a crushing hug that made Gaara's Sand Coffin seem like child's play.

"Welcome home, Otou-san!" Naruto greeted him when he pulled back enough to look at the man's face. Minato was only a few inches taller than him now. Naruto hoped the day never came when he was as tall as or taller than his father. Usually he was annoyed with his shortness, but he liked looking up into Minato's eyes. They seemed so much more beautiful at that angle.

"What's for dinner?" Minato asked, scenting the air and glancing over Naruto's shoulder.

"Yakisoba!" Naruto said, grabbing his father's right wrist and pulling him into the kitchen/dining room. Minato sat down and Naruto soon followed, perching in the chair across from him. He was on the edge of his seat. He wanted to know what had happened with the council. He wanted to know NOW. But he would let his father eat first. He could see the fatigue pouring from the man's blue eyes that seemed dimmer somehow.

Minato served them both, filling their plates with Naruto's exquisite cooking. "Itadakimasu!" Minato said before delving into his food, devouring it like a starving man.

Naruto picked at his food, occasionally taking a bite, while he mostly watched his father eat. He was glad the man ate so quickly when he was famished. He'd be done faster, and be able to tell him what had happened sooner.

By the time Naruto had finished his plate of food, Minato had inhaled two more plates-full. Then he finally sat back in his chair and rubbed his stuffed abdomen, sighing with satisfaction. Naruto watched him closely, intently, trying to tell him with his eyes that he needed to start talking soon or he was going to lose his mind.

Minato laughed when he caught the look, but then it quickly faded into a stern, disappointed one. That was all Naruto needed.

"They aren't going to give them back," he said.

Minato shook his head. "I'm sorry, Naruto. They think he's still too dangerous."

"Bah! Those leeches just want him to suffer so they can feed off his misery!" Naruto said, scowling at his empty plate. He clenched his fists in his lap, trembling with rage.

"Indeed," Minato concurred, "But can you really expect anything else from a group of parasites?"

Naruto slammed a fist onto the table, rattling all the dishes. "Dammit! Why can't we just get rid of them like you would with any other pest!?"

Minato reached across the table and covered Naruto's fist with a comforting hand. "I'm sorry, son, but there doesn't seem to be any kind of pest control to get rid of this kind of parasite. But don't worry. We'll find a way to get Sasuke his sharingan back."

Naruto concentrated on the feel of Minato's thumb rubbing back and forth over the top of his hand. It was soothing, and Naruto knew he needed to calm down. Going apeshit with rage wasn't going to accomplish anything but confirming the villagers' fears that he really was a bloodthirsty demon out to rape their women and eat their children. At the moment, there was nothing he could do about the setback, so there was no point dwelling on it.

Soon Naruto was peaceful once again. He twisted his hand in Minato's so that he could grip it. He pulled it to his face and kissed the knuckles.

Minato moved his hand to cup Naruto's face, tilting his head to look at him. The look on his face was so kind; so loving. Naruto cherished that look more than anything else, even more than Sasuke's laughter. Only that look, on his father's face, could make Naruto feel so warm and loved. No one else ever looked at him like that. No one else felt for him the way Minato did. And that was why he was Naruto's most special person.

As Naruto gazed at his father, he noticed how the man kept rolling his shoulder as if it was in pain. "Otou-san, did you hurt your shoulder?"

"No, the muscles are just a little tense," Minato assured him, running his fingers through Naruto's hair before taking his hand back.

"Let me see," Naruto said, getting up and rounding the table to stand behind his father's chair. He gripped the man's shoulders and squeezed, working the knots out. There were several, but one especially persistent one at the crook of his neck and shoulder. He rubbed and massaged it until it finally loosened.

Minato moaned aloud when Naruto at last tamed the monster knot. The deep sound of the man's voice made Naruto's cock stir in his pants. There was nothing sexier than a moaning Minato. Well…a NAKED, moaning Minato.

Grinning, Naruto leaned forward, sliding his arms down his father's chest further and further until his hands could playfully explore the man's inner thighs. He rested his face in his neck, breathing in his sweet, musky scent and nuzzling his messy, blonde locks.

Naruto nipped at his neck, humming with pleasure when he felt Minato harden at his attentions. His hand wandered over the growing bulge and squeezed it, massaging it like he had with the knots in his shoulders. His teeth nibbled along the cord in Minato's neck, his tongue tracing the back of his ear, and then trailing kisses back down the whetted skin.

Minato's hands came up to tangle themselves in his hair, pulling him into his exposed neck, enticing him to continue his ministrations. Naruto was more than ready to comply. He chose a spot on his neck at random and closed his mouth over it, sucking the skin into his mouth, chewing it gently. He kept attacking that single spot as his hands ventured further. His left hand took over the massaging of the now completely hard erection trapped in the confines of the man's pants while the right began trying to set it free.

"Mmm…Naruto, I missed you today," Minato whispered in his ear, nipping at it.

Naruto hummed in response, biting the flesh between his teeth a little harder. His father tasted so good; sweet, like some sort of forbidden fruit.

'_Passion fruit_," Naruto mused to himself.

His right hand finally unlocked the door to Minato's pants and eagerly set the aching erection free. One hand went to cover the task of fondling Minato's balls while the other set to work stroking the velvety smooth cock. He smeared the precum collecting on the head down the shaft with his thumb, slicking the organ up so it was easier to pump his hand over the flesh.

~MINATO~

Minato greatly appreciated the labor of Naruto's hands. They didn't shirk on any aspect of their job. They just did it to the very best of their ability, doing all they could to please him. He wished more of his shinobi were that dedicated.

He moaned into Naruto's ear when the boy's thumb delved into the slit on his head again, harvesting more of the slippery liquid that oozed from the opening. This wasn't quite what he'd been imaging at work all day, but it was definitely more than sufficient. In his fantasies, he'd been the one doing all the pleasuring, but he had no qualms with being pleasured himself. Who _would_?

The hand that had been coddling his testicles abandoned their station and wandered up his stomach, tracing his muscles and gently scratching little red lines across his skin. Fingers danced their way up the center of his chest, stopping to inspect Minato's right nipple, teasing it into full attention before leaving for places further north. They caress his collar bone, sliding tantalizingly along the smooth skin and up his neck to his mouth. The fingers stroked his lips, persuading them to part and allow them entrance to the warm cave they protected.

Minato sucked the fingers into his mouth, wrapping his tongue around the calloused digits, tasting their salty tang. The boy's fingernails lightly brushed the back of his throat as Naruto pulled them out and thrust them back in, over and over. Minato bit down on them gently, slipping his tongue between the two appendages, spreading them apart.

Suddenly, Naruto moved away, deserting his posts at his cock and mouth. The boy moved around him to the table and cleared the dishes away, placing them carefully in the sink, ignoring Minato all the while like they hadn't just been fooling around. Minato stared at him in disbelief. What was he doing? Did he miss something?

"Naruto…" he started, but before he could continue, Naruto stopped in front of him, pressing a finger to his lips. Minato just looked up at him expectantly. He was guessing Naruto was planning something. And he was right.

The younger blonde slipped into his lap, draping his legs on either side of him and wrapping his arms around his neck, pressing their bodies as close together as they could get. Minato's hands instinctively took up their positions on his son's hips, his thumbs delving beneath his shirt and rubbing circles on the warm skin beneath.

Naruto hovered in front of Minato's mouth, taunting him with the proximity of his lips. Every time Minato leaned forward to claim them, Naruto would lean back, moving just out of his reach. The boy loved to tease him at every opportunity. Minato made a frustrated grunt. Naruto just grinned with amusement. Minato frowned at him and darted forward to capture Naruto's bottom lip between his teeth before the boy could retreat back far enough. Now it was Minato's turn to grin. Victory was sweet. But not as sweet as Naruto.

Relenting, Naruto moved forward and closed his mouth over Minato's, his tongue darting inside to inspect the secret room full of treasure. Minato's tongue slid along Naruto's, delving into that sinful mouth.

The two kissed each other passionately, losing themselves in the perfection of the act. Naruto's hands scrunched Minato's hair into his fists, pulling almost painfully, before travelling down to his neglected cock that was still out of his pants, pressed between them. He tugged on it harshly, tearing a cry from Minato, which Naruto quickly swallowed, not removing his tongue from his mouth for even a second and causing saliva to trail down their chins from the sloppiness of their kiss.

Minato lifted Naruto's shirt up, forcing their lips to depart, if only for a moment. Naruto groaned in protest, but pulled back, lifting his arms and allowing his shirt to be removed, but then he was trying to climb into Minato's mouth again. His son successfully shirtless, Minato roamed over the newly exposed skin, remapping the curves and creases that he already knew so well. He grazed his fingernails down the boy's back, making him arch back and moan.

His neck revealed, Minato attacked it, biting the soft skin there. One of Naruto's hands left his erection and pressed his face into his throat more firmly with a hand on the back of his head. Naruto's moans got more forceful when he bit down hard on his shoulder, the other hand flying up to help the first push him even harder into his neck. Naruto loved it when he marked him.

Minato's own hands slid into the back of Naruto's pants to cup his ample rear, groping the pliant flesh, only to come right back out to work on removing the offending clothing barring him from exploring his son unhindered.

Minato stood up to make it easier to strip Naruto, and suddenly realized why Naruto had cleared the table. With it empty, it was the perfect thing to bend him over and fuck the living daylights out of him. The older man grinned at the prospect. With his son still wrapped around him, Minato stood and laid the boy on the table. He had to pry his hands off the back of his neck before he could pull back and fiddle with Naruto's pants.

The boy in question was mewling at him, pulling at his own hair, begging for his father's touch with each groan that fell from his lips. Minato was so distracted he was having a hard time opening Naruto's pants. The actual sound of his son pleading for him to touch him was so much better than he could ever imagine in his fantasies. It amazed him every time he heard them for real.

Finally wrenching the troublesome pants open, Minato ripped them off his body, leaving his son stark naked, sprawled on their dining table, watching him with lust-filled eyes. Minato swallowed with anticipation. He couldn't wait to be inside the one he loved the most; to feel Naruto envelop him. There was nothing better for Minato.

~NARUTO~

Minato was staring at him, seemingly paralyzed. Naruto wished the man would get on with it already. He did this almost every time. He'd just stop everything and stare at him like he'd never seen him naked before and was surprised to find he was so delicious underneath all his clothes. It was like their first time every time. And it's not that Naruto didn't appreciate being drooled over, it was just that he was aroused as hell and wanted the man to _touch_ him, not stare at him. Naruto didn't understand how he could look but not touch.

Sighing inwardly, Naruto sat up on the edge of the table. He reached out to Minato and forced the same two fingers he had in the man's mouth before back in. Minato seemed to wake up then, but only slightly. His eyes were still wandering all over Naruto, but he was conscious enough to suck on the fingers invading his oral passage.

Naruto pulled his fingers away, stood up, and turned his back to Minato. He bent over the table and reached behind himself to slip one of his slickened fingers inside himself. He could feel all of Minato's attention converging on his hand. He slipped his finger in and out, moving his hips lasciviously, trying to get Minato to wake up and come help him.

It wasn't until Naruto moaned when he brushed his own prostate that Minato remembered how to move. Naruto heard him coming. He pulled his hand away and swayed his hips tantalizingly for his father's benefit, silently beckoning him to, '_Come and get it_.'

Minato's hands were warm on his ass. They squeezed and groped his flesh, spreading the cheeks further apart. The cool breeze of Minato blowing on his entrance sent shivers up Naruto spine. A warm gust followed just before Minato's tongue swiped over his hole, his hands moving down his thighs, kneading his skin. The man's tongue probed his puckered entrance, dipping inside momentarily before slipping back out and drawling circles around him.

His father's mouth strayed from his opening, lower, to suckle the balls hanging heavily between his legs. One was sucked into his mouth and was rolled around in the warmth of his father's mouth. The second soon followed and Naruto found it was becoming increasingly difficult to keep quiet as his father's skilled tongue massaged some of his most intimate parts.

Naruto started begging when Minato rubbed a finger over his entrance, sending tendrils of pleasure through his whole body. "Please, Otou-san, I can't take much more…" he was ignored though, his father deciding he'd rather nibble the very inside of his thighs rather than comply with his son's wishes. Naruto silently cursed the man for enjoying the sound of him begging so much. He couldn't really complain though, because he liked it when Minato begged too.

~MINATO~

Only when the slow crescendoing whine that Naruto was emitting reached forte did Minato stop his teasing. He wouldn't want him to hit his fortissimo just yet, not before he'd had his fun. He pulled away slightly, resting his hands on his son's hips and letting the boy breathe for a minute; cool the fire just a tad.

"Are you done, Otou-san?" Naruto asked, almost out of breath. "Can we get to the good part now?"

"Hm…I don't know…" Minato spit on two of his fingers and spread the saliva over them thickly. He then thrust both of them into Naruto, enjoying the cry it wrenched from his son. "Does that answer your question?" Minato said in a deep lusty voice that earned him a whiney groan from Naruto. He pulled the fingers out and thrust them back in again over and over. The tight ring of muscle loosened slowly around his digits while Naruto mewled his appreciation of Minato's simple actions. He added a third finger when the resistance decreased around the first two. Naruto moaned in response.

Minato spat on his spare hand and used it to slick up his cock as he got to his feet. He took his fingers to, ignoring Naruto's protests, and rubbed the head of his cock over his entrance, reverting back to his teasing. He slipped his head inside only to pull it right back out again. After doing that three more times, Naruto was clawing at the table beneath him with frustration.

"Otou-san, please, just fuck me already!"

Minato just grinned to himself, ignoring his son yet again. He enjoyed a desperate, begging, sex-crazed Naruto more than almost any other kind. Because, although it was hard to keep from giving in to the please, afterwards, Naruto would pout like a five-year-old, and that was just the cutest thing in the world. Cuter even than a mature Naruto who acts grown up and gives sagely advice to children younger than himself.

Spreading Naruto's cheeks once more, Minato situated his cock between them, and pressed the juicy gloves around himself, encasing his arousal like a pig-in-a-blanket. He thrust his cock in its sheath, throwing his head back at the heat that burned through him. If the boy's ass-cheeks were this good, his hole would be a hundred times better. He thrust faster, his cock moving easier when his precum oozed out of his head, adding another lubricant to the mixture of saliva and sweat.

Naruto was moaning beneath him. He'd reached up and grabbed the edge of the table, holding on for dear life as Minato tortured him. "No fair, Otou-san…why do you get to have all the fun?" Naruto whined, his head lolling forward and resting on the tabletop between his elbows.

"Maa…you're right, Naru-chan. How selfish of me. How can I ever make it up to you?" Minato asked, half-laughing as he did so.

"Fuck me!" Naruto demanded, wiggling in Minato's grasp.

Chuckling, Minato released Naruto ass-cheeks and positioned his head at the boy's entrance. He leaned down over him to whisper in his ear. "You want me inside you, Naru-chan?"

"Yes," was Naruto's breathy answer.

"You want it hard? Or soft?"

"Hard. We'll do soft later."

Minato couldn't help but laugh out loud at his son's comment. Clearly, the boy had plans for the night. He wondered if he'd get any sleep at all. Sometimes Naruto would practically keep him up all night, only allowing him small naps between fuck sessions. Some nights Minato would have to tie his son up and lock him in his bedroom to keep him off him. That was only necessary on night before council days though, so it wouldn't be happening tonight.

"Alright, son, you ready?"

"So fucking ready…"

"You sure?"

"Very."

"Absolutely sure?"

"Yes."

"A hundred perce—"

"YES! NOW EITHER YOU FUCK ME OR I SWEAR TO KAMI-SAMA I WILL RAPE YOU!" Naruto exploded, twisting his head around to glare menacingly at his father.

Minato laughed. That was all he could do. He just laughed and laughed. Really, Naruto said the most hilarious things sometimes without even meaning to. He had no doubt the boy was dead serious, but it was just too amusing to comply with. He'd had every intention of fucking his son into next week as soon as he said yes to, "A hundred percent sure?" but then Naruto had to go and say _that_. What could he but laugh?

Unfortunately, by laughing, Minato was not doing what Naruto had ordered. Paralyzed by his own merriment, Minato was too slow to escape from the four kage bunshins of his son that each seized one of his arms or legs and picked him up off his feet. His mirth was waning as the four of them carried him out of the kitchen and down the hall to his bedroom. By the time they actually entered the room, Minato had sobered and was struggling in the clones' grips.

"Hey, let me go, Naruto," Minato ordered, but the boy just stood away from the bed, leaning against a wall, watching him amusedly.

The four clones threw him onto his bed and converged on him again before he could escape. He fought the strong hands all over him as they tore at his clothes. They pulled his coat off, followed by his flak jacket and shirt; then his pants that were already falling off along with his underwear and hitae-ate. Finally, the four returned to their respective limb and held the powerless Hokage to the bed, spread-eagle, like he was on display. And for Naruto, the real one, he was.

Naruto moved away from the wall and stood at the foot of the bed, surveying his clones' handiwork with a smug expression on his face.

"Will you let go of me now?" Minato asked, not amused by his predicament. He tested the grip of the clone holding his right arm and found it was unbreakable. He did not take pleasure in being tied up, held down, or in any way incapacitated. He was too much of a shinobi to relax in that situation, no matter whom it was that was doing the laying up.

"Not just yet. I'm quite like seeing you helpless. It's refreshing," Naruto answered superciliously. He crossed his arms over his chest and tilted his head to the side to observe his struggling father for a while longer.

"Dammit, Naruto! Let me go!" Minato started fighting again. No way were four clones going to hold him down. He was the Yondaime for fuck's sake! This insolence would not go unpunished!

~NARUTO~

Watching his father squirm was the sexiest thing Naruto had ever seen. He'd thought it was sexy when the man would look up at him while he sucked his cock, but that was nothing compared to a helpless Minato struggling to get out of the iron grasp of his clones. He knew Minato hated being held down, and he knew Minato would make him pay for this later, but right now, he didn't care. He would burn this image into his mind forever before he faced the music.

"Naruto! If you don't let me go right now, you're sleeping in your own bed tonight!" Minato growled, his muscles shivering as he flexed them to their peak. It was useless though. Naruto's clones held him at such an angle that the man would never break free from brute force alone. He'd have to lift the Narutos up off the bed before he could escape.

Naruto grinned, utterly amused with his father, and sank on to the bed, crawling towards the older man. He ran his hands up the man's thighs as he slid down onto his stomach. "You're so impatient, Otou-san," he cooed, breathing over his father's erection that wasn't nearly as hard as Naruto would have liked.

"Let me go, Naruto! I swear to Kami-sama, if you don't let me go, I'll—"

"You'll what?" Naruto interrupted, floating up the perfect body of his father so their faces were inches apart. "You wouldn't hurt me, would you, Otou-san?" Naruto ground their erections together to accentuate his words. He could feel his father shiver beneath him. It excited him.

"I'll um…I'll…I'll…" Minato stuttered, too distracted with the renewed heat between his legs to remember what he was going to say. Naruto nibbled his ear to further fluster the man. Minato relaxed below him, melting from Naruto's attentions. "I'll punish you," Minato finally whispered breathily.

"Punish me? Oh, but, Otou-san, you're the one who needs to be punished. You're such a tease; it's infuriating. I would understand if you only did it every once in a while, but you do it _every time._ Why can't you ever just get to gettin'? Why do you always have to torture me, Otou-san?" Naruto breathed the words across his father's neck and upper chest, leaving tingling kisses and licks in his wake.

"I just…I like it when you beg, son…"

"I know you do. I like it when you beg too, but you seem to have an addiction to it, which is unacceptable, because I can't take it anymore. You need to break your habit, Otou-san, and I'm going to help you. From now on, every time you start to go overboard on the teasing, I'm going to punish you. Okay?" Naruto finished his speech off with a nip at Minato's bottom lip.

"Um…punish me? How exactly are you going to punish me?" Minato asked, frowning ever-so-slightly.

Naruto grinned at his question as he sat up, straddling his father's slender waist. "Good question, Otou-san. How _will_ I punish you?" The younger blonde lifted himself up onto his knees and grabbed a hold of Minato's freshly awakened cock and positioned it at his entrance. He slowly, painfully slowly sat back down on his father, filling himself with his throbbing arousal.

Minato groaned as he did it, his hips thrusting up to meet his. Naruto had to bite his tongue to keep from crying out. Once he was inside, Naruto had to stop to breathe and keep himself from just abandoning his plan to punish his father and just fucking himself on the man's pulsing cock. Minato made protesting noises when he didn't start moving right away, but Naruto ignored them and left his clones to concentrate of holding the man down.

Closing his eyes, Naruto delved into himself and found that dark room deep within him that housed the Kyuubi. It had been a while since he'd spoken to the fox, and he knew he wasn't going to be a welcome visitor, but he didn't care. Kyuubi was required for his plan, so he would take the verbal abuse that the demon was sure to throw at him. Besides, Kyuubi couldn't be too mad at him once he explained why he was there.

The thick black bars of the cage disrupted Naruto's view of the demon somewhat, but he could see the fox was curled up in a ball in a corner of his cell, his face buried in his nine tails. Naruto kicked at one of the bars to get the fox's attention. With a growl, it lifted its head to look at him with those burning red eyes of his.

"**What do you want, brat?**" he asked impatiently in his growling voice. Kyuubi was always impatient, or angry, or annoyed, or all three at the same time. Naruto couldn't really blame him though. If he was stuck inside someone body for an indeterminable amount of time, completely powerless, he'd be in a pretty bad mood too.

"I have a present for you," Naruto said, smirking at the look of shock that passed over the fox's face momentarily.

"**A present? What is it? A new insult that you came up with?**"

Naruto laughed, "No, I think you'll actually like this one. Come up to the surface for a bit."

Kyuubi grinned that evil grin he always got when Naruto let him play in the outside world. The fox got to his feet and approached the bars of his cell. He sat down again in front of Naruto, his tails splaying out behind him. He stared up at Naruto and waited.

Returning Kyuubi's mischievous smile, Naruto stepped inside the cage, dragging his own conscience with him, and allowing Kyuubi's to fill his body. There was a wave of heat that coursed through him when Kyuubi took control of his body. The fox had told him it was his chakra flowing through his pathways; the fox's chakra ran hotter Naruto's did.

When Kyuubi opened his eyes, Naruto could still see through his eyes, only everything seemed more defined; sharper. The room looked brighter than it was; the fox's eyes more adept to the darkness. Kyuubi looked down at Minato and laughed aloud. He sounded slightly insane as he cackled at the man he was currently pierced upon.

'**You spoil me, brat. What did I do to deserve this?'**

'_Not what _you _did, what he did. I want you to punish him.'_

Grinning like a madman, Kyuubi clenched his muscles around Minato's cock and told Naruto, '**No problem, brat. This is one thing I'll gladly do for you.**'

~MINATO~

Minato stared up into the red eyes of what he knew what a Kyuubi controlled Naruto. The demon grinned down at him crazily, marring Naruto's usually innocent features. What was Naruto thinking letting the Kyuubi loose like that? It made Minato uneasy, as it should have. The less than sane screech the fox let loose didn't help with his comfort level. Neither did the fact that Naruto's clones were still holding him down.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" Kyuubi growled, leaning down closer to his face, tilting his head to the side and flaring his nostrils. "It seems you've upset my little kit. He's asked me to teach you a lesson, insect." Kyuubi somehow managed to widen the grin that was dominating Naruto's face. "This should be fun."

"Naruto, what are you doing?" Minato asked, frowning and pulling at his arms again. It was one thing to be held down with Naruto on top of him, but an entirely different one to bed held down with the demon that you sealed away years ago, who probably wants to eat your face off, riding you. Minato hadn't even known Naruto could consciously let Kyuubi control him like this.

"Punishing you, insect," Kyuubi answered for his host, "But don't worry. I won't hurt you _too_ much." The fox broke out in another fit of maniacal laughter.

Minato turned to the Naruto clone holding his right arm, "If you're going to sic Kyuubi on me, can you at least let me go?" The clone just giggled in response, shaking his head.

"What's the matter, insect? Are you afraid of little ol' me?" Kyuubi taunted, rolling his hips.

Minato gasped as his son's body moved over his cock. It might have been Kyuubi controlled, but it was still Naruto's tight little ass. The evil demon rolled his hips again and again, starting a slow teasing rhythm. Minato couldn't help but react to the sensation of someone riding his cock, especially when that someone looked so much like his son; his lover. A moan escaped him before he could stop it. Kyuubi chuckled, but otherwise said nothing.

Minato watched the demon fucking itself on him. Its eyes were closed, not looking at him; it didn't look like it was plotting something evil; it just looked like it was enjoying itself. Why wasn't it trying to kill him? He was the reason he was locked up in Naruto. He figured the Kyuubi would be out for his blood. Yet the thing just rode him like Naruto would have been. Minato wasn't even sure if it really was the Kyuubi or if Naruto was just messing with him.

The demon's eyes opened and that reddened gaze bore into him. Those eyes held some much more depth than Naruto's did; more age and knowledge. A grin spread across Naruto's face. "Do you like that, insect?" No, it was definitely Kyuubi. Kyuubi sped up his movements, pounding himself over Minato, never breaking their eye contact. "Answer me, brat," he growled, clenching his muscles around Minato.

He tried not to react to Kyuubi, but he couldn't help it. He moaned and thrust up to meet Kyuubi's thrusts, his breath becoming ragged with pleasure. Apparently that was answer enough for Kyuubi. The fox snarled and kept going, a sheen of sweat making Naruto's body glisten in the dim light.

A tongue slicked over Minato's left shoulder and when he looked up to see who it was, there was a set of Naruto's blue eyes staring back at him as he licked him again. Minato watched as the clone licked his way down the remainder of his shoulder and push his head away gently to get at his neck. Almost as if on cue, the three other Naruto clones started attacking his skin with their tongues and hands. The one at his right shoulder attached itself to the other side of his neck, the other two that were holding his ankles sucked at his inner thighs.

Minato was momentarily immobilized at the sensation of three separate mouths sucking at his flesh, three sets of teeth nipping at him, three pairs of hands roaming over his body, as the tight ass of his son flew over his cock. It made him realize that what he'd thought was a predicament was in fact a gift from the gods. He had five Naruto's working on his body, _five._ Elated, Minato reached out to Kyuubi to grab his hair and pull him down for a kiss. He no longer cared if it was Kyuubi or Naruto in control.

It was only when his fingers touched Naruto/Kyuubi's hair that he realized he was free; the clones were no longer holding him down. They'd abandoned their posts to tend to his needy flesh. Grinning maliciously up at Kyuubi who was watching him from hazy eyes, he masterfully flipped them over to press the demon firmly into the bed. Kyuubi stared up at him, shocked, while Minato just smirked down at the arrogant demon who'd thought he could top him.

"Looks like someone got distracted," Minato purred, lifting Naruto's legs up to better accommodate himself. He pulled back and slammed back into Kyuubi, shaking the bed with the force of his movement. He continued to fuck the foxboy, the clones still determinedly covering every inch of his skin in saliva, until he was limp on the mattress and muttering incoherently, drooling, and pulling at his hair. "What's the matter, Kyuubi? I thought you were gonna teach me a lesson," Minato taunted, laughing in the demon's ear to emphasize his point.

Kyuubi started cackling, much to Minato's disturbance. "Are you in a hurry, insect? Most people wouldn't be so eager to race to their doom," Kyuubi growled, his malicious grin still plastered to his sweaty face.

Minato harrumphed, masking his uneasiness with Kyuubi's response. What could the fox possibly do? He was on top of him, holding him down, with four other Narutos practically on top of him, piling up their weight. Kyuubi might be in control of it, but Naruto's body still wasn't strong enough to lift five people with sheer brute strength from his position. And yet he was so confident that he'd be able to get the upper hand. Minato had thought he would try and fuck him, but the fox hadn't even tried for that when he was being held down. What was he up to?

Giggling, Kyuubi arched up to lick Minato's neck, making the man tense slightly at the prospect of the fox being so close to a vital area. His arms wound their way around Minato's back to grip his shoulders from behind. His tongue ran out of neck to taste and so forged its way along his jaw and to his mouth where it thrust its way inside to kiss him roughly. "Deep breath now, insect," Kyuubi murmured against his lips.

Minato only had a split second to wonder at his command before he felt Kyuubi's sharp nails clawing into his shoulder and ripping downwards, tearing his flesh like paper. He back bowed and he ground his teeth together to keep himself from crying out in pain.

Kyuubi brought a bloody hand to his mouth and began licking the red liquid off his fingers, watching him all the while.

The four Naruto clones started fretting around him, making worried sounds and looking his wounds over. They assessed that they wouldn't kill him, but one or two of them might leave scars if they weren't tended to immediately.

Minato flared his nostrils angrily and glared down at Kyuubi, who looked way too pleased with himself as he licked the palm of his hand like it was his favorite flavored popsicle. It probably was.

"You little—"

Minato was cut off by Kyuubi shoving him off him and onto his back, showing an unusual amount of strength that he didn't remember Naruto possessing. The cuts stung something fierce when they came into contact with the sheets. He arched his back up in an attempt to ease his pain, even if it was just a little.

He didn't have to suffer for long though, because, just as fast as he'd shoved Minato off, Kyuubi pulled him back up to his knees to capture his lips with his own. Minato, however, was in no mood to kiss the little cretin who just tore his back to ribbons and then all but rubbed salt into the wounds. He clenched his teeth together to keep Kyuubi's tongue from venturing too far into his mouth, which seemed to greatly amuse the fox. Minato tried to push him away, but Kyuubi just laughed and threw him off the bed and to the floor like he was a rag doll.

Pouncing on him before he could even get to his knees, Kyuubi held Minato's arms down and went to work cleaning Minato's wounds with his tongue, adding little bits of chakra, Naruto's chakra, to each stroke, healing them somewhat. Minato struggled in Kyuubi's grip, not at all pleased with their current position. He was the Hokage for goodness sake.

'_I'll be damned if I let Kyuubi run rampant and do as he pleases with me.'  
_

Taking a deep breath, Minato calmed himself, forcing himself to relax in Kyuubi's hold. He didn't like it, but struggling wasn't going to get the fox to loosen his grip. Besides, it would be easier to move if his cuts were healed. It definitely was _not_ because the fox's tongue felt incredibly good gently caressing the edges of the gashes… He would make his move when Kyuubi released him.

Minato was lost in a daze, the tingle of Naruto's chakra lulling him deeper. Before he knew it, he was bent over the edge of his bed, his head resting in a nest of sheets, wrapped in the warmth of his own cradling arms.

Behind him, Kyuubi was lapping at the small of his back, heading south. His teeth nibbled at the edge of his buttock, his tongue darting out to trace the narrow path down to his entrance. The probing tongue pushed inside him, wiggling around just past the tight muscles.

Minato moaned and pushed back against the sinful tongue, earning him a soft chuckle and a slick finger instead in place of the tongue. One, two, then three…Minato mewled with the pleasure of being violated by those deft fingers. They knew just the right angle to thrust; just where to stroke him. Prickling shocks of bliss seared through his body, sending sparks of light exploded behind his closed eyelids every time they would brush that magic spot deep within him.

Suddenly, the pleasure was gone and Minato was groaning with discontent at the loss. He perked up when he felt something pressing at his entrance once again. He smiled sappily into the sheets, thinking the fingers were back, but he was wrong.

Minato's eyes flew open in shock at the same moment Kyuubi thrust into him. He scrabbled at the bed sheets, trying to escape, but Kyuubi's hands were too tight on his hips.

"Looks like someone got distracted," Kyuubi rumbled in his ear, feeding him back his own words.

"Son of a bitch!" Minato barked, unconsciously tightening his muscles around Kyuubi's cock.

The fox growled in approval, starting a rough pace, pounding into the very unwilling man. Minato could tell his struggles only turned the sadistic demon on more.

"Stop!" Minato cried desperately, failing to wiggle free. "Please!"

"Kyuubi, maybe you should stop…you're hurting him!...Stop, Kyuubi!...Get off him!" came the voice of the Naruto clones that Minato had completely forgotten about. They'd been busy romping with each other on the bed.

"He's fine," Kyuubi replied, not letting up his assault on Minato's ass in the slightest.

"Please, stop…" Minato said, hating that he was begging as his body went limp against his will. He hated even more that Kyuubi's cock sliding in and out of him was starting to feel really good.

"No."

"Kyuubi! Let him go!" the Narutos said, their concern growing.

"He doesn't want me to."

"Yes he does! You're hurting him!"

Kyuubi grabbed his flaccid head and lifted it up so he was facing the group of distressed clones. His brow was knit together, eyes closed with his mouth hanging open, as he whined softly. "Does he look like he's in pain to you?" Kyuubi asked.

The clones said nothing. Minato looked like he was floating on cloud nine.

Kyuubi released his chin, letting his head drop back down to the bed, and returned his full attention to fucking Minato as hard as he could.

Minato gave up any pretense of escape when the fox angled to hit his prostate with every powerful thrust, tearing cries from his throat. He clutched the sheets in tight fists and pushed back to meet each of Kyuubi's thrusts, not caring that the wretched demon was laughing at him, whispering mocking taunts in his ear.

Kyuubi's hand strayed from his hip to grasp his weeping cock in his calloused hand. He pulled harshly on it once and that was all it took to push Minato over the edge. His seed erupted in three quick spurts, Minato screaming wordlessly. He could vaguely feel a burning warmth filling him at the same time Kyuubi sank his fangs into his shoulder, growling, as he came, but it was washed away by the intensity of his orgasm screaming through him.

He collapsed against his bed, boneless, while Kyuubi panted against his neck, occasionally lapping at the blood dripping from the bite on his shoulder.

The four extra Narutos gently pulled him from Kyuubi's embrace and settled him in the center of the bed, on his back, under the covers. Kyuubi crawled up after him, lying on him, cuddling his face into his chest. A low growl emanated from the fox that sounded more like a purr. It made Minato smile for a reason unknown to him.

'_Well, I guess I'm damned then,'_ was his last thought before sleep overtook him.

**Maa, so what do yous thinks? My first non-Kakashi smexing...I'M SO PROUD OF MYSELF!XDDD Hope you likie!:3**


	4. The Deal

**YOSH! That's right, bitches, I'm finally updating this fic!x_x lol About god-damned time, right?XD Ug...I'm sorry it took so long...I just kinda got stuck...-_- But now that I've pretty much got the whole plot outlined, I should be able to updated more frequently...maybe...^^; **

**Anyway, enjoy!:3  
**

_The Sly Fox, the Melancholy Scarecrow, and the Golden Sun God_  
Chapter 4: "The Deal"

~KAKASHI~

Kakashi didn't sleep too well that night. He'd fallen asleep easily enough, but then he'd woken up sweating after having a disturbing dream about Naruto and Sasuke doing unspeakable things to him. After that, he was unable to find his way back to Dreamland, which was probably a good thing considering the dream--or nightmare--he'd just had.

That being said, Kakashi was very much awake when the sun rose that morning. He couldn't actually see it because the window he was perched in wasn't facing east, but the warmth and its light still reached him.

Since he'd been unable to sleep, Kakashi had thought long and hard about what to do with Sasuke. Obviously, things were going to have to change, and soon, if the boy was going to have any chance of surviving. And, as he'd finally concluded, the thing that needed to change was Sasuke's eye condition. His crippling Uchiha pride needed its rightful bloodline limit.

Kakashi stroked the scar on his cheek, closing his eye so he didn't poke himself on accident. He wondered what Obito would do in his position, or what he'd do in Sasuke's position.

'_He'd never be in Sasuke's position because he was too much like Naruto,_' he thought. But if he was, Kakashi thought he would have taken it with much less grace than Sasuke was. He'd bitch and moan, scream and cry, and basically just raise hell until the council broke down and gave him his freaking sharingan back just to get him to shut the fuck up. The thought made Kakashi smile. He missed his Dobe.

As far as what he'd do in Kakashi's position…he'd probably do something rash and stupid that he'd later regret. But that was just how the boy had rolled. It worried him a little that he and Naruto were so alike. He really hoped his student didn't do something stupid. Naruto had definitely matured since his genin years, but he was still prone to his idiocy at times.

Deciding on a course of action he'd been pondering for quite some time, Kakashi stood, sighing, and stretched his cramped muscles. He redressed in his uniform, skipping a shower since he'd already had one recently…and left his apartment before he could change his mind. He would have plenty of time to do that on his way to the council's lair.

~MINATO~

Minato dragged his aching bones out of bed that morning just as the sun peeked over the horizon, filling his room with subdued light that was filtered through the curtains. His son was still dead asleep in the bed, drooling, and mumbling incoherent things in his slumber. Minato spared the sight a smile before the pain in his backside shot through his body, bringing his back down to earth.

It had been a very, VERY, long time since he'd been uke, and his rear was not taking the sudden change well. It was a small comfort, Minato had to admit, that the only person who could top him was a millennia old demon who was naturally more powerful than he could ever hope to become and very well versed in the ways of mating. But it was only a small one. And the notion certainly didn't make the pain any more bearable. The warm water of the shower, however, _did_. It soothed his sore body, washing away the kinks in his muscles and aches in his bones. He was able to stand upright when he exited the steamy room in a towel.

Naruto hadn't moved an inch since he'd left the bed and Minato didn't expect him to until a few hours later after the boy had slept off what the two blondes referred to when speaking of Naruto having a "hangover", because he never got them from drinking, which he rarely did anyway. No, because Naruto was just sexy like that, he only got hangovers from having all night sex-a-thons that left him more exhausted and strung-out than any mission ever had. They both found it hilarious, especially when someone would overhear them talking about it and then say something about booze being a bitch.

Silently laughing in his head, Minato quickly dressed in his usual get-up and left for his office with every bit of enthusiasm a junkie would have when being forced into a rehab center. It was harder to go to work some days, but luckily that day wasn't too bad because, not only was it not a council day, but he'd had an amazing night of sex, so he was in a better than fucktastic mood when he strolled lazily into the Hokage Tower. Plus, all he really had to do that day was sort the papers from the council meeting the day before and then go over mission reports, which would either be interesting or so boring he'd want to gouge his own eyes out. But all in all, it was looking like it would be a smooth-sailing kind of day.

His coffee was already waiting for him on his desk when he settled into his chair behind it; thanks to his indispensable secretary who Minato was sure must be some kind of alien or superhuman to accomplish all that she did in one day. She wasn't even a shinobi. Sometimes he was sure she was a robot from outer space made by super-intelligent beings to spy on their little human colonization for research and science experiments. If so, he was sure everything she told them was rather boring by their standards, because no matter how crazy things got, the woman never flinched.

Minato took a sip of the searing hot coffee and set to work sorting the stack of papers before him, trying to ignore the discomfort emanating from his rear end.

~KAKASHI~

Kakashi was following Sai down a dark corridor with another Root ANBU covering his back. The unknown man wore a standard issue white mask; a hood that hid his hair, neck, and shoulders; and carried two swords on his back that were so ridiculously long, Kakashi was sure they'd be more cumbersome in a fight than helpful.

When he'd arrived at the ANBU headquarters where the council spent their "downtime" or as Kakashi was more likely to believe, "the time they spent plotting the destruction of Konoha," he'd requested a meeting with the council members and had waited patiently for a bit before being led stiffly through the maze of corridors by the emotionally retarded boy and his colleague.

Finally Sai stopped their procession in front of a random door in the center of a random hallway after they'd passed dozens of random doors situated along dozens of random hallways. It was easy to get lost in the ANBU HQ underbelly.

Sai, entered the room--closing the door behind himself--only to come back out and hold the door open for Kakashi. Assuming the boy had just announced his presence, Kakashi entered the room and tried not to let his uneasiness reign over him as Sai closed the door solidly behind them, the masked man still in the hallway. The younger boy nodded at him before walking across the room to take up his position behind and slightly to the right of Danzou.

Doing his best to ignore his nerves, Kakashi faced the council that sat patiently before him. They sat in what amounted to thrones in a line on a slightly raised platform. Mitokado sat in the middle, Danzou at his left and Utatane on his right. They all sat up straight as pokers on their stone thrones decorated with colorful pillows, and were those rubies embedded in the backs?

Kakashi inwardly rolled his eyes at the council's extravagance. They were all so desperate to be Hokage they had to comfort their failure with silk cushions and precious stones. The jounin honestly didn't understand why they were so eager to be Hokage; they had it made just as they were. They were more powerful than the Hokage, they didn't have to do any of the menial paperwork, and they got to sit around on thrones all day doing nothing. The real Hokage didn't even _have_ a throne. Was the title of Hokage that important to them?

Kakashi bowed before his superiors and waited to be asked why he was there. He'd found it smart to wait for them to address him instead of just blurting out what he wanted. These people liked to beat around the bush and they didn't like to be dictated to.

They all took their own good time sizing him up, searching his soul with their ancient gazes. If Kakashi had been a lesser shinobi, he might have flinched.

"What brings you here today, Kakashi-san?" Mitokado asked, shifting in his seat.

"I've come to ask the council to return Uchiha Sasuke's eyes," Kakashi said emotionlessly.

They were all silent, no reaction at all. Sometimes Kakashi wondered if the council was dead and these statues were just robots they made to continue their reign of destruction after they died. They never showed any emotion or even any sign that they'd heard you at all. It was unnerving to say the least.

"Why are you asking this of us?" Utatane said.

"Sasuke-kun isn't doing very well without his sharingan."

"You expect us to give the traitor his most powerful weapon back just because he's unhappy without it?" Danzou sneered.

Kakashi took care not to show his bristling. Danzou had always rubbed him the wrong way. He was sure the man rubbed everyone the wrong way. The idea of Danzou having friends was a frightening thought.

"He isn't going to destroy the village; Naruto has convinced him not to. If you would just give him his eyes back, he could be a valuable asset to Konoha," Kakashi reasoned.

"And we're just supposed to take your word for it?"

Kakashi paused to think. "Yes," wasn't going to be a sufficient argument. "What would it take to convince you?" he ended up asking.

The council was silent once again as they pondered Kakashi's thought. He hadn't wanted to ask the question; they would surely think of some impossible thing for him to do to convince them, but he couldn't think of any other way. He'd been considering all the things the council would ask him in his apartment earlier before coming, but he should have known better than to think he could prepare for everything they would throw at him. The council was known for its unpredictability. You never knew when they were going to do something useful or when they would do something completely unproductive to the current situation, usually ending up making things worse. That happened more often than not, but sometimes--very rarely--they did something helpful.

"We will come back to this thread," Mitokado declared, waving his hand as if to toss the question away, "Say we were to believe you, Kakashi-san, what makes you think we would go out of our way to help the boy?"

'_Out of their way?_' Kakashi thought. '_What exactly would they be doing that would be going out of their way?_' The council didn't have to do anything but say Sasuke could have his eyes back. They didn't have to do the surgery to replace them; they didn't even have to open the jar that they were being kept in! Kakashi resented the council for being so inconsiderate and lazy. There were no human-beings on the face of the earth that were more self-centered and flippant than those three sacks of potatoes.

"He's very powerful, as I'm sure you know, Council Members; he could be useful to the village. You know better than I do how desperate we are for shinobi," Kakashi said calmly, not betraying his anger.

"Yes, you've said that already," Utatane commented.

Kakashi took a deep breath to repress his growing urge to raikiri them all in the face. "I will be honest with you, Council. I would like you to grant Sasuke his eyes back because I'm worried about him. He's my student and I have no desire to see him die before I do, especially in such a dishonorable manner. His punishment has gone on long enough. He harbors no desire to destroy the village, so why is he still being treated just as harshly as was when he first returned? Why are you keeping Konoha from gaining the loyalty of one this generation's most powerful shinobi?"

Utatane and Mitokado gave him small smiles. "A humble sentiment," the bespectacled man said.

Danzou just sniffed at him scornfully.

"He makes a very good point," Utatane said.

"But there's still the matter of believing him when he says the traitor can be trusted," Danzou pointed out.

"Just tell me how I can convince you and I will do it," Kakashi said.

The three of them briefly exchanged glances, making Kakashi uneasy. It was almost like they'd known he was going to show up and ask them about this, like they already had something planned for this occasion before it even happened. But that was impossible because Kakashi hadn't even known he was going to come here until that morning. Even the council couldn't predict the future.

"Since you have come asking us a favor, Kakashi-san," Mitokado began, "We will require a favor in return."

Kakashi blinked. Were they actually saying they'd do as he asked? He was shocked beyond belief. He'd thought that his pleas would be futile. He'd asked just so he could say he tried. He hadn't actually expected to get his way, and yet—unless is ears had deceived him—that was exactly what he was getting.

If he did whatever they asked, of course.

"And what kind of favor would the council ask of me?" Kakashi asked warily. There must be a catch. The council he knew and loathed wouldn't make this so easy. Whatever they wanted must be pretty terrible.

"We would like you to do a little surveillance for us."

"On who?"

Mitokado smiled and Kakashi's skin crawled. "Naruto-kun."

They wanted him to spy on one of his students in order to save his other one? Why did they want Naruto watched anyway? As far as he knew, Naruto hadn't had any Kyuubi episodes in a few years, so it couldn't be because of the fox. Why else would they spy on him though?

"May I ask why?"

"We have reason to believe the boy might be planning something illegal," Mitokado answered matter-of-factly. "We've had several other shinobi watch him, but none of them could get half as close to him as you. So what do you say, Kakashi-san, do we have a deal?"

Kakashi was silent as he pondered the outcomes of this mission. He would definitely feel bad for spying on his student, but he'd feel worse if Sasuke up and died because he didn't. He didn't believe Naruto was up to anything either, so he wasn't worried about getting him into trouble. But if the boy ever found out what he'd been doing, he'd never trust him again. He didn't want to betray him. Minato would be upset with him too, which was even worse than betraying Naruto's trust. On the other hand, if Naruto knew he was spying on him because he was trying to get Sasuke's eyes back, he might not be so angry.

Kakashi felt like sighing with annoyance, growling with frustration, and screaming with anger all at the same time. In the end, the truth of the matter was he had to spy on Naruto or Sasuke would die. He would do it, but not before making some things clear.

"How long would I be doing this?" he asked.

Mitokado took a deep breath as he frowned in thought.

"Six months," Danzou answered.

"Maa, Danzou, that's a little long, don't you think? Three ought to be fine," Mitokado countered.

"And what if he goes on missions?"

"No need to worry about when he goes on missions, Kakashi-san. He doesn't have the time to do anything of interest while he's working, and his teammates would notice something if he tried."

"So I have to watch him for three months while in the village? That's all?" Kakashi clarified.

They all nodded.

"And after three months, you'll give Sasuke his sharingan back?"

They nodded again.

Kakashi felt like he was walking into a trap, but he couldn't figure out why. He pushed the feeling away; this had to be done.

"I accept the mission," he said, almost cringing at his own words.

"Excellent," Mitokado said, "You will report to us everything you see once a week. Or if you witness anything of particular interest, you will report to us immediately."

Kakashi nodded his understanding.

"Remember, Hatake, you know his whereabouts 24/7, and he isn't to know he's being watched," Danzou said, almost threateningly.

Kakashi frowned at him. "I'm aware of how to conduct surveillance on someone, Danzou-sama."

"Just making sure you didn't conveniently '_forget_' later," he sneered.

Kakashi's frown deepened. "Are you questioning the authenticity of my word?"

"Of course he isn't," Mitokado interrupted, "He's just being cautious. We know you wouldn't scuff your honor, Kakashi-san. You're too much of Minato's student for that."

Kakashi hummed in response, not believing the man for a second.

"If that will be all, Kakashi-san, we have other people waiting to see us," Utatane said.

Kakashi bowed, muttering his thanks, and left as quickly as he could before they decided to change their minds.

~NARUTO~

Naruto woke to the feeling of being watched. His eyes flew open while his face was still pressed into his pillow. He stayed perfectly still for a while, trying to feel if anyone was in the room. There was no one inside, but he could still feel someone's gaze burning into his back. He couldn't go back to sleep with that feeling.

Sighing groggily, Naruto slipped out of the bed, noting the time, three in the afternoon. Minato would have left hours ago, of course, but the blonde wished he was still home so they could have some good morning slap and tickle. Why did the man have to work _everyday_? He should get a day off every once in a while.

Naruto dragged his feet to the bathroom, still trying to figure out who was watching him and from where, and took a shower, scrubbing all the sex off him. He felt safer in the bathroom; no one could watch him in there unless they were actually in the bathroom with him. Whoever was watching him must be outside somewhere.

Naruto took his time in the bathroom, not too eager to go back out to the bedroom where someone was watching him. Eventually though, he had to either leave the bathroom or stay cowering in there. Naruto wasn't the type to cower, so he exited the room and left the bedroom as soon as he felt the pair of eyes on him again.

Most of the rest of the house was fine; he was hidden pretty well, but every time he got near a window, the awful feeling of being watched came back. He'd had that feeling for a while now, a couple weeks, but this time it was especially apparent. Whoever was watching him was either getting careless in hiding their presence, or just didn't care of they were caught.

He didn't feel like being alone right then, while he was being watched, so he left the house without eating his brunch. He'd eat at Ichiraku's on his way to his father's office.

~KAKASHI~

Kakashi felt a bit like a pedophile as he watched Naruto sleep in his father's bed from the tree outside his window. The boy was in the same position he was always in when he slept soundly, his butt in the air and face buried deep in his pillow, drowning it in drool. It was like he was presenting his ass to anyone who felt like raping him. It had been funny the first couple time Kakashi had seen it, but now it was kind of annoying. He wished the boy would sleep more…_normally_, in a position that didn't make him feel like a sexual predator.

The bark of the tree bit into Kakashi's back as he wiggled in his seat, trying to get more comfortable. He'd been reading his Icha Icha, but he just couldn't seem to get into it like he usually did. He just wasn't in the mood for porn right then; he was hungry. He hadn't eaten that morning or in the afternoon, and now he was watching Naruto, so he couldn't get anything to eat. Maybe he could leave Pakkun to watch the boy for a bit while he got something to eat?

His thoughts were cut off by the blonde in question rising from the bed and padding his way to the attached bathroom. Forget leaving Pakkun to watch him, he'd just ask the boy if he wanted to grab a bite to eat when he left the house.

Naruto would never turn down ramen.

~MINATO~

The words on the pages seemed to be running together. He'd been staring at page after page of meaningless status reports, contracts, and meeting overviews for the past seven hours; he was about to pass out on his desk. When he became Hokage, he hadn't expected this. He'd grown up thinking that being Hokage would be the coolest most exciting job there was, but now that he actually was one…he'd kill to be a regular shinobi again. He blamed Sarutobi for deceiving him into thinking this was a fun job. Jiraiya-sensei too.

As if on cue, the perverted sage barged into his office just then, completely ignoring his secretary's protestations as she fluttered around him squawking about Hokage-sama being too busy for visitors.

"Hey, Minato," Jiraiya greeted him with a small wave.

"Hey, sensei, I was just thinking about you," Minato replied, waving at his secretary to let her know it was okay that he was being interrupted. The woman frowned at him and left the office in a huff, closing the door behind her.

"Oh, really? What exactly were you thinking about me?" the white-haired man asked, sitting on the edge of his desk and leaning in close to him with a lecherous grin on his face.

"I was just thinking you're a real bastard for not warning about how fatally boring this job is," Minato replied matter-of-factly.

Jiraiya sat back, laughing. "You wouldn't have believed me, even if I'd told you."

Minato sighed in defeat, sitting back in his seat. The man was right. He'd had such a thick head when he was kid…

"So…did Naruto tell you about what happened last night with Sasuke and Kakashi?" Jiraiya asked nonchalantly.

Minato glanced up at him. "About what happened with Sasuke and Kakashi?" he asked curiously. He hadn't been informed about any occurrences between those three last night. They had discussed three other people who were much less interesting.

Jiraiya grinned at him again. "Oh, he didn't tell you, did he? I wonder what that means…"

~NARUTO~

Naruto met his stalker a few feet outside his home. Kakashi dropped down from a tree as he was walking past it. Naruto almost stabbed him in the chest with a kunai before he realized who it was. Kakashi was staring at him, shocked, as he held the kunai firmly against the front of his flak jacket.

"Um…good morning, Naruto," he said.

Naruto deflated, lowering his weapon and letting out the tension in his muscles. "Don't scare me like that, sensei. I almost killed you!" he complained, putting his kunai back in its holster.

"Why are you so jumpy?"

"Someone's been watching me…" the boy admitted, trusting Kakashi unquestioningly.

"Oh? Why would someone be watching you?"

Naruto shrugged. "I don't know, but they've been doing it for weeks. It's really annoying. I can't even take a leak in the woods anymore…"

Kakashi chuckled and ruffled his hair. "Whoever it is, they're no match for you, so I wouldn't worry too much. Keep your guard up though," he advised.

Naruto nodded his understanding. "What are you doing here, anyway?" he asked, changing the subject.

"I was just wondering if you wanted to get some ramen with me."

Naruto stared at the older man for a few heartbeats. Was Kakashi asking him out on a date? He had to know about his father and him, and Kakashi wasn't the cheating type. Not to mention the man would never knowingly hurt his father. He must just be asking as a friend. But that was a little hard to believe since the man had never asked him to out to eat before; he was usually the one asking.

"Why?" Naruto asked suspiciously, giving the silver-haired man a sideways glare.

Kakashi smiled at him. "I was just in the mood for ramen and it never feels right to eat it without you."

Naruto regarded him suspiciously for a moment longer before accepting the invitation. No matter what his reasoning, free ramen was free ramen.

~KAKASHI~

Kakashi ruffled Naruto's hair affectionately again before turning and heading down the road towards the ramen shop, trusting Naruto would follow him.

As they walked, Kakashi reflected on his ex-student's progress. There had been a time when he could have killed Naruto forty-three different ways before the boy realized he was nearby, but now he had a sixth sense that told him when he was being watched. There had been a time when Naruto would jump six feet into the air and start screaming at him when he surprised him like he had, but now the blonde was strong enough to counterattack a surprise attack at a moment's notice.

Kakashi was proud of him.

--

Their meal was pretty uneventful. Naruto downed his usual six bowls and Kakashi picked at his, uncaring if Naruto saw his face. He used to inhale his food so the boy couldn't see his face, but that was unnecessary now.

Once they were done, Naruto declared that he was going to visit his father at his office and asked if Kakashi would like to accompany him. Having nothing better to do, and having to watch Naruto anyway, Kakashi agreed to go with him. It would be nice to see Minato, it always was.

At least it usually was.

"Speak of the devil!" Jiraiya said when the two of them walked through the office door. Kakashi could tell by the way the man was grinning at him that whatever had him so giddy was going to be at his expense. "How are you, you fiend?" the man asked him on the verge of giggles.

Kakashi's eyes slid to Minato. The blonde was sitting, relaxed, in his chair, giving him a knowing, and lecherous smile. What was all this about?

"Well, well, well, look who it is," Minato said, his smile widening to match Jiraiya's grin. "To what do I owe this honor, _Kakashi-sensei_?" the man asked, saying his name breathlessly, almost…passionately. Kakashi dreamed of the man saying his name like that all the time, but for some reason, he didn't like it now.

"Naruto wanted to visit you…" Kakashi replied, his eyes questioningly flicking from his sensei, to the sannin, and back.

"Did you miss me, Otou-san?" Naruto asked, rounding the desk and making himself comfortable in the man's lap.

Minato absently kissed the boy on his head, never taking his eyes off Kakashi. "Jiraiya tells me the most…interesting thing happened last night," he said, hinting.

That was all it took for Kakashi to guess what he was getting at. He tried not to show his discomfort. The ANBU must have told him what had happened at Sasuke's. He definitely wasn't going to enjoy this conversation.

"I hear that you, my son, and Sasuke-kun had a little ménage tois last night in the shower. Care to tell me what happened? Details would be nice."

Minato and Jiraiya were both grinning at him like madmen. It made him blush under his mask. Naruto was giggling into his father's neck, clearly offering the poor jounin no help.

"Nothing happened, sensei," Kakashi said, looking away and glaring at a wall testily.

"Oh, really? That's not what my ANBU and Jiraiya-sensei tell me. They tell me you undressed Sasuke and carried him to the bathroom with your face in his crotch. Then Naruto showed up and when he came out of the bathroom, he was wearing nothing but a towel. I wonder what happened in that bathroom…"

Kakashi ground his teeth together. He wasn't quite sure if he was more embarrassed or angry. It was a toss up. "Nothing happened, sensei," he ground out, "We just gave Sasuke a bath."

"You gave him a bath, huh? Why did you do that? Did Sasuke beg you pretty?" Minato teased.

"No," Kakashi growled, clenching his fists and ignoring his burning cheeks. "He was just being difficult."

"You raped him?!" Jiraiya asked.

"NO!" Kakashi yelled at the insolent man, "He was being his usual emo self who refused to take care of himself, so I was doing it for him!"

"By 'it,' what exactly do you mean?"

"Oh, curse you!" Kakashi said, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring at the ground.

The three other men in the room were laughing at him and his modesty.

"You should've been there, Otou-san. He was so cute! He was acting like it was a mission!" Naruto said, laughing into Minato's chest.

"FOURSOME!" Jiraiya cried, fueling all their amusement.

Kakashi could do nothing but stand there and take it.

--

It was quite some time before they calmed down and stopped laughing at the epically embarrassed Kakashi, tiring of his discomfort and moving on to other things. Kakashi was just glad to be out of the center of attention.

The rest of the day passed rather ordinarily, except for the fact that Kakashi didn't turn down any of Naruto's invitations to go places all day or have dinner with him and Minato that night. It didn't really occur to Kakashi that he might be making himself out to be suspicious with his agreeable new social attitude. But then again, he didn't think Naruto would object to it, since the boy had been trying to get him to be a bit more outgoing practically since the day they'd met.

And although he felt guilty about only spending all that time with Naruto because of his mission, and although he acted like he was annoyed with it all at times, Kakashi was enjoying his quality time with the blonde. And that night as he settled into his bed, Kakashi couldn't help but look forward to the next day, when he'd get to see Naruto again. It'd been a long time since he'd looked forward to anything.

**Yeah, so there you have it! Chapter 4! Shorter than the last few chapters...and I'm kinda iffy on it myself...but I think it turned out okay. But what did _you _think? Bad? Good? Meh? Reviews are love, and God knows I could use some love3 Thanks for reading!:D**


	5. Falling Apart at the Seams

**Okay, so I lied. Having the plot outlined didn't help me write faster. And I'm not going to bother bullshitting you all into thinking I'm going to mend my way and start writing faster from now on, because I probably won't. Sorry^^; BUT HAVEN'T FORGOTTEN THIS FIC! I _WILL _SEE IT TO THE END, I PROMISE YOU _THAT_! Enjoy:3**

Fox, Scarecrow, Sun god Ch. 5

"Falling Apart at the Seams"

~KAKASHI~

Two and a Half Months Later

Spending all that time with Naruto really helped Kakashi to realize just how negligent of his ex-student and surrogate little brother he'd been. When Naruto had been a child, Kakashi had known him like the back of his hand, but the boy had changed significantly since he was five. For example, it turns out Naruto's favorite isn't orange at all; in fact, it's green. The only reason he doesn't wear a bright green jumpsuit is because it doesn't look good with his hair, eye, and skin color. The orange, while almost the exact opposite of his favorite color, actually served to set all of his features off. Kakashi had had no idea the blonde put that much thought into his wardrobe. And now that he thought about it, the boy was absolutely right—green would have looked _terrible_ on him.

Also, as it turned out, when one wasn't being an anti-social misanthrope, Naruto was actually a really fun person to hang out with. Over the past several weeks and months, Naruto had helped the jounin rediscover what it was like to live in the moment—what is was like to be _free_. Kakashi had spent most of his life living in the past, and occasionally in the future, but to live in the here and now was truly uplifting. He had to admire the blonde for his wisdom in this area.

It felt so good Kakashi was almost able to forget the fact that he was only spending all this quality time with the young blonde because he was spying on him for the council. Thankfully though, Naruto didn't seem to be doing anything inauspicious, so the only thing really reminding him that he was technically breaking the boy's trust was the weekly reports to the three old hags in their cave. Other than that, the "mission" was more like a much needed vacation. It was difficult to even think of it as a mission.

Despite those facts, however, Kakashi would be relieved when the mission was officially over and he could hang out with the blonde simply because he _wanted_ to. Two more weeks and that would become a reality. As the end approached, Kakashi found himself getting more and more excited; it felt like he was five and waiting for Christmas day to come, except when the day did come, there wouldn't be presents, and there weren't any annoying Christmas decorations, or people trying to spread the "holiday cheer." It would be an _ideal_ Christmas for Kakashi.

All in all, Kakashi was quite pleased with how things were turning out. He was going to get Sasuke's sharingan back after doing pretty much nothing but having fun with Naruto. In two weeks maybe Sasuke would be accompanying them on their various adventures in the village…probably not, but it didn't hurt to day dream.

On that particularly nice day, fourteen days before the completion of his mission, Kakashi found himself strolling down the street next to Naruto on his way to visit Minato in his office with plans for ramen afterwards. The two were walking in a comfortable silence, just enjoying each other's company as they had for the past several months. Neither of them had expected the day to turn out any different than it had before. But then again, no one has ever foretold the proverbial rub being pulled out from under them.

Minato greeted them warmly like he always did, inviting them to stay as long as they liked, and chatting with them happily. The only unusual thing to happen that day would be the pebble that set off the landslide.

"Alright, Kakashi, spill it. What's gotten into you?" Minato asked, leaning back in his chair and giving his ex-student a dubious look.

"What do you mean, sensei?" he responded innocently.

"Oh, don't give me that. What happened to Mr. Leave-Me-Alone-I'm-Busy-Reading-My-Porn-And-Ignoring-The-World-Going-On-Around-Me?"

Kakashi shrugged. "I guess I just got bored. Besides, you two have been trying to get me to be friendlier my entire life, and I should have known better than to try to oppose either of you. You're too stubborn to give up, and I'm too lazy to continue fighting you," he said, explaining his odd behavior away. Frankly, Kakashi was surprised they hadn't had this conversation earlier—not that he was complaining. The less they asked him about it, the less he had to lie to them.

"Hn," Minato grunted, blatantly showing his disbelief. "What sparked your sudden giving though? After that shower thing with Sasuke, I would have figured you'd have brooded and been even more anti-social, and yet you did just the opposite. It all just seems awfully sudden if you ask me…"

"Maa…Otou-san," Naruto said, frowning at his father, "It's weird, but I don't see any reason to complain about it. He's finally being social; we should be happy for him, not questioning him. You're just going to make him close up again. It's almost like you _want_ him to be a recluse…"

Kakashi was thankful to Naruto for defending him, even if he didn't deserve it. He didn't have much of an answer for Minato's question, and bullshitting Minato was almost impossible for Kakashi—the man knew him too well.

Minato smiled, "By gods, you're right, Naru-chan! I shouldn't have even brought it up."

They all shared a small laugh, but were interrupted by a knock at the office door.

Minato lifted a curious eyebrow and bid the person to come in.

They were all a little shocked when Sai stepped gracefully into the room, his trademark fake smile plastered to his face that had never learned to show any kind of emotion. He bowed to the Hokage respectfully and waited to be addressed before speaking as he'd been trained to do in Root.

"What brings you here, Sai-kun?" Minato asked casually, looking the young man over.

"I am here to escort Kakashi-senpai to the council's chamber. They are summoning him, sir," Sai said cordially.

Kakashi did his best to hide his inner panic. Minato knowing he was having any kind of contact with the council was a very, very bad thing. The Yondaime was a smart man—he was a Hokage after all. He'd already had his suspicions about Kakashi's odd behavior. Adding his mysterious dealings with the council to the mix was a dangerous thing. If Minato figured it out…the mission would fail, and neither him nor Naruto would ever trust him again.

"The council?" Minato said, frowning. "What do they want with Kakashi?"

"Am I in trouble or something?" Kakashi asked, cutting off whatever Sai was about to say to that.

Sai smiled at him again, "No, they were just wondering about your mission."

Kakashi paled—his stomach dropping to the floor. The silence in the room was palpable, and the potential energy was building up to frightening amounts.

He cursed Sai, his mother for birthing him, and the universe for allowing the damned kid to survive. If the stillness somehow pouring off of Minato was any indication, the man had either figured it out, or was just pissed as hell that he was consorting with the council in general without telling him. Kakashi prayed that it was the latter—the gods _owed_ him after their screw up with allowing Sai to exist.

~MINATO~

"_Mission_?" Minato said, clipped, eyes boring into Kakashi's head. He couldn't believe Kakashi was doing a mission for the council. A mission _without telling him_. What was he thinking? What in the hell was he doing it for? Minato had been under the impression Kakashi hated the council just as much as he did, if not more, for denouncing the boy's father like they had. What the _fuck_ was he doing? "_What_ mission, Kakashi?" he asked again brutally.

"Sensei…" Kakashi said, avoiding his eyes, "Please don't ask me that…" He shuffled his feet nervously, looking like the six-year-old Minato remembered from before his dad died.

"I already asked," Minato said coldly, not liking Kakashi's anxiety; that could only be bad.

Kakashi was silent, eyes darting around the room like a trapped rabbit desperately searching for a way to free itself. His eyes landed on Naruto, standing beside his desk and looking at all of them like he was watching a parent spank their child, and stayed there.

And then it hit him. Kakashi's sudden change of behavior and new desire to spend all his time with Naruto…he was spying on Naruto for the council. It was so obvious; how had he not noticed it before?

Minato's anger multiplied and Kakashi flinched.

"Kakashi…do you want to tell me _now_ why you've been acting so strangely?" he growled, trying to reign in his rage. He wanted to give Kakashi the benefit of the doubt. Surely his surrogate son wouldn't betray them like that. What could possibly tempt Kakashi to do something like that?

Sasuke's face flashed before Minato's eyes, accompanied by another wave of fury coursing through him. If he'd done this for that damned Uchiha…

Minato swallowed hard and forced himself to calm down. He didn't even know for sure what Kakashi had done yet, if anything. He'd always trusted Kakashi; the boy wouldn't betray him. Kakashi was too loyal.

"Answer me, Kakashi," Minato demanded.

"Sensei, please…"Kakashi pleaded, still not looking at him.

"ANSWER ME!" he barked angrily, almost snarling.

Kakashi shook his head, "Please don't do this, sensei…"

"Are you spying on Naruto?" Minato asked quietly, darkly. "Are you spying on my son—your _student_—for the council?"

Kakashi didn't have to say anything to answer Minato's question. He was up and around his desk in a second, slamming Kakashi against the wall, holding him in place by his throat. "Why? Why would you do this?!"

Kakashi opened his mouth, but all that came out with a gurgled noise.

Minato growled irritably, but loosened his grip on the younger man's throat. "TELL ME!"

"They said they would give Sasuke his eyes back if I did…" Kakashi said reluctantly.

He wouldn't have thought it possible, but somehow Minato actually managed to be even more furious than he had been when he'd first contemplated the idea that Kakashi had betrayed them for the Uchiha. He was seeing red, unconsciously squeezing Kakashi's throat again, and cutting the man off from even the tiniest breath of air.

Kakashi didn't even struggle in his grip. He just looked at Minato with resignation and guilt. Maybe if Minato had been thinking a little more clearly, he would have noticed the look and let up a little, but something inside him was broken, shattered by betrayal. The soft spot he'd had in him for Kakashi had hardened to that of stone, and by no means was Minato letting Kakashi get away alive for this. He would kill his ex-student, ex-son, ex-shinobi, ex-everything.

As far as Minato was concerned, Kakashi was already dead.

~NARUTO~

Naruto stood back against the far wall behind Minato's desk, shocked into a state of paralysis. He couldn't believe Kakashi had been spying on him for the past several months. The only reason he'd wanted to be with him was because of a _mission_?

It stung, that much was for sure, but at the same time, Naruto was having a hard time hating Kakashi like his father seemed to. He'd done it for Sasuke. The Uchiha was just as much Kakashi's student and responsibility as Naruto was. And the fact that Kakashi had done something he knew the man would hate himself for to save his student really touched Naruto's heart, even if he'd technically been betrayed.

No, he couldn't find it in himself to hate—or really even be angry—with Kakashi for what he'd done. The thing he'd been planning to do to get Sasuke's eyes back was just as bad—worse even. Kakashi just had to do one mission and that was it, but what Naruto would have to do would never end, not until he was dead. Well…either he or the council, but they seemed to be immortal…the fucking dinosaurs…

Naruto watched, still unmoving, as his father slowly choked Kakashi to death, giving him the most hateful look he'd ever seen on the man's face before. It was unnerving, and he wasn't even the one on the receiving end of it. But what was really unnerving was Kakashi. He wasn't fighting or struggling; he didn't even look surprised. He was just hanging limp in Minato's grip, accepting his fate.

This was not acceptable to Naruto. He wouldn't let Kakashi die by his father's hands for trying to save someone he cared about—someone they _both_ cared about.

Breaking his catharsis, Naruto strode towards his father and gripped the man's shoulder, trying to pull him away from Kakashi.

Minato wouldn't let go of him though. He didn't even seem to notice Naruto.

"Otou-san, stop it!" Naruto said, grabbing his father's wrist and putting a hand of Kakashi's chest for leverage. He tried to pull the man's hand away.

"He's going to die," Minato growled. "He betrayed us. I won't forgive him."

"Otou-san! You can't kill him! He's your student!" Naruto argued, pulling harder on the man's wrist, starting to panic. Would Minato really kill Kakashi? The look on his face said he would…

"He's nothing to me!" Minato barked.

Kakashi winced then. His eyes watered like he was going to cry, though he didn't. Naruto wasn't sure if the tears were because being choked hurt or if it was Minato's words that had done the damage. Naruto had never seen Kakashi cry, not once. Usually, he'd been the one crying while Kakashi held him, comforting him. He didn't like seeing the man so close to breaking. There were very few things Naruto was afraid of, but seeing anyone he cared about hurt was one of them.

"Otou-san, let him go!" he growled harshly, yanking on the wrist in his hand with all his might. Minato's grip loosened and that was more than enough for Naruto to pull him completely off Kakashi and push him away. He moved in front of the gasping man to protect him in case Minato tried for him again. "What is wrong with you, Otou-san?"

"What's wrong with _me_? What's wrong with _you_?! He betrayed us! Why are you defending him?"

"It was to save Sasuke! He didn't have a choice!" Naruto argued.

"There's always a choice, son!"

"Yeah, and he made the same one I would have!"

"No you wouldn't have! No son of mine would do such a thing!"

That hurt a bit more than it probably should have. Naruto was certain Minato hadn't meant that he'd disown him if he did something like what Kakashi had done; he was just angry. But it hurt nonetheless, because what Naruto was going to have to do would be worse. He really hoped he knew his father as well as he thought he did. The way he was reacting to Kakashi's betrayal was not comforting.

"I would! And I think you would too!"

"The hell I would!" Minato snarled, enraged as if he'd just been insulted.

"Think about it, Otou-san! The only reason you're pissed off is because he did it for Sasuke, and you hate Sasuke. But what if you were in Kakashi's position? What if you had to choose between saving one of your students' lives and staying true to your friends? Would you just let them die when you had a way to save them? Would you?!"

That stumped him.

Minato opened his mouth to retort, but whatever he was going to say never got passed his lips. "I would have found another way," he finally said.

"What if there was no other way? Or what if it was a one-time only opportunity?" Naruto said, lowering his voice a few notches as the tension in the room diminished.

Minato scowled at the floor, unable to answer.

"I'm not mad at him, Otou-san. I'll admit that I'm a little upset, but it's not like he was doing it because he's loyal to those old sacks of crap or anything. He was just trying to help Sasuke. He would have done the same for me or Sakura," he said, trying to sound as reasonable as possible. "I forgive him."

Minato sneered at the floor before glancing up at Naruto. "You might, but I won't." He turned his gaze Kakashi, "Get out of my office. I don't ever want to see your face again," he said coldly, and Naruto could hear Kakashi swallow a lump in his throat behind him.

"Otou-san, don't be this way," Naruto pleaded on Kakashi's behalf.

Minato was about to say something, but Kakashi cut him off. "It's okay, Naruto. I understand."

Naruto turned to the side so he could talk to Kakashi without letting Minato out of his sight. "But, Kakashi…"

"I said it's okay, Naruto. Just leave it. There's nothing you can do anyway." Kakashi sounded so forlorn it tore at Naruto's heart. He'd never seen him like this before, like a kicked puppy. He hadn't known Kakashi was capable of showing that much emotion, especially when there was someone he wasn't comfortable with was in the room.

Naruto glanced at Sai, still standing in the same spot they'd left him in before, and watching them curiously, probably trying to memorize all their facial expressions for future reference. He glared at him. This was all Sai's fault. If he had just kept his mouth shut and waited until Kakashi was alone, none of this would have ever happened.

Sai just cocked his head at him and raised an eyebrow in puzzlement.

Naruto wondered in he really didn't know what he'd done.

~KAKASHI~

But of course Sai had known what he'd done. After all, he'd probably been ordered to do it on purpose by the council, specifically Danzou. Surely they'd been planning this from the very beginning. Kakashi had known that the deal they'd made was too good to be true. He knew he shouldn't have taken the mission. When the council was involved, no good could ever come of it.

Not wanting to withstand Minato's cold stare any longer, Kakashi wordlessly shuffled towards the door, more than ready to go somewhere where he could be alone to think. Or not think at all. That would probably be less painful.

"Kakashi, wait," Naruto said, taking a step towards him and putting a hand on his shoulder.

Kakashi shrugged the hand off and kept going. If he looked back, he was sure he would break down into a sobbing ball of misery. Naruto's eyes would make sure of it. And that would be unacceptable. Shinobi didn't cry, at least not in front of people. And more importantly, he just didn't want Naruto to see him cry. No little brother should ever see their Aniki cry.

"I'm sorry, Naruto," he whispered as an afterthought. After all Naruto had done to defend him, the least he deserved was a simple apology.

Kakashi walked home slowly, refusing to let his emotions run rampant. They swirled around inside him like he was a blender on puree, but you wouldn't have been able to tell by his outward appearance. Everything inside him screamed for him to run, burn off some steam, go somewhere and cry your eyes out—fast. But Kakashi wouldn't do that. He was a dignified, grown man. His tears could wait. He had things to do first.

ANBU headquarters, not far from the Hokage Tower, loomed over him as he stood in front of it for a moment, waiting. He wasn't surprised when Sai appeared at his side and started leading the way inside. They'd planned this to the tee, it seemed. Not just spilling the beans, but everyone's reactions as well. They'd known Minato would be furious and that Kakashi would come here.

It was shamefully, really, how predictable they all were.

Keeping his thoughts to himself, Kakashi reluctantly followed the pale boy inside and through the maze beneath the building once again to stand before the council.

They didn't even bother to try and hide their smugness.

"So how goes it, Kakashi-kun?" Utatane asked first, a sly smile shifting the wrinkles on her face.

Kakashi was silent for a long moment before answering flatly, "I think you're well aware of how it's going."

Danzou grunted haughtily from his throne, "You failed, Hatake. I knew you would."

Kakashi's pain rapidly turned to anger at Danzou's words. He turned to glare at the man. "I only failed because you're a cheating coward," he seethed, trying to will the man's head to explode with the sheer power of his mind.

He felt it before Danzou started to move towards him faster than most people could see. But Kakashi wasn't one of those people, and he saw it, and he wasn't afraid either. He took a step forward to meet the older man, his anger boiling closer to the surface.

"I would watch your tongue if I were you, Hatake. Now that you've lost the Hokage's favor and protection," he said darkly.

Kakashi sniffed at him. "I don't need his protection."

"I wonder about that."

He would have attacked Danzou if Sai hadn't pulled him back by the scruff of his flak jacket, making him stumble slightly. He whirled around to confront the younger boy, but Sai already had a kunai out and pointed at his throat by the time they were facing each other. He hadn't even felt it.

Anger dulls the senses, he reminded himself silently.

Giving Sai a burning glare, Kakashi took a step back and turned again to face the council. Danzou was back in his seat, looking nonplussed, and the other two were gazing at him with slightly amused expressions.

"Well, since Naruto-kun has found out, I'm afraid your mission is a failure, Kakashi. And I'm also afraid our deal is now null and void. Sasuke will not be regaining his sharingan," Mitokado said after he'd given Kakashi a moment to collect himself. "However, if you'd like, I'm sure we could come to another agreement…"

"I'd sooner kill Sasuke myself," Kakashi said, leaving no room for negotiation. He wouldn't do it. No matter what they offered, he wouldn't fall for the same trick again. Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. Kakashi was no fool.

"That's a shame," Mitokado continued. "Well then, I believe we are done here then, no?"

"Your time is coming to an end," Kakashi said, out of the blue, shifting his gaze among the three council members before him. He didn't know where that'd come from; it'd just sort of bubbled up his throat, but it sounded nice and ominous, so Kakashi just went with it.

"Is that so?"

Kakashi nodded. "Enjoy your power while it lasts, because you're going to lose it sooner than you might think."

Mitokado smiled at him, and it sent a shiver up his spine. "You'll excuse us if your threats don't frighten us. You may go now."

Obediently he followed Sai out, but he stopped in the doorway. After all they'd done to him, he'd be damned if he'd let those bastards have the last word. He looked over his shoulder at them and said as eerily as possible, "You've made too many enemies."

His words didn't seem to have the desired effect though, because Mitokado's smile just widened.

**This chapter was a little short...I was gonna put more in it, but the stuff I was gonna add sounded better in the next chapter...at least in my head it does...hopefully it does...8D**


	6. Between a Rock and a Hard Place

_The Sly Fox, the Melancholy Scarecrow, and the Golden Sun God_  
chapter 7: Between a Rock and a Hard Place

~KAKASHI~

Kakashi's apartment was in ruins. He should have gone for a nice, long run to blow off his steam, but the thought of being out in public where people would see him had crossed that idea off the list. So instead he'd just gone home and torn his apartment apart. It had felt good to smash the few knick-knacks that he'd collected over the years; though he couldn't remember where, how, or why he'd gotten them, let alone kept them.

The only thing that had escaped his overflowing emotions was his old picture of his genin team. The wooden frame was worn down to smoothness from being handled so often, and the glass had fingerprints all over it. Kakashi sat down on the edge of his bed abruptly with the picture in hand. Minato looked so happy in the picture—proud of his team, despite their misgivings. He remembered that day clearly every time he looked at the picture. Minato had been as cheerful as ever, somehow managing to get Rin to agree to stand next to Obito instead of Kakashi, and making Obito smile for the picture rather than glare at Kakashi.

Kakashi threw the picture across the room, his chest tightening at the memory. The glass shattered against the wall and the frame cracked when it hit the ground. _Fitting_, Kakashi thought. His and Minato's pasts were just as shattered as the frame now. It meant nothing to Minato anymore, he was sure. He would take all the broken shards of glass and splintered wood, and throw it all away to forget, as if it had never happened.

Kakashi was dead to Minato.

Finally Kakashi's tears came. They'd been put off during his destructive tangent, but now they were back in full force, streaming down his blank face. He held his face in his hands as if he could hide his own tears from himself.

He deserved this, he thought. He'd stabbed both Minato and Naruto in the back. He deserved nothing less than their hatred. Naruto had said he wasn't angry and that he'd forgiven him, but Kakashi didn't entirely believe that. The boy had to be at least a little angry with him. He couldn't just ignore it like it didn't happen. Even if Naruto didn't acknowledge it, he would still never trust him completely again.

And Minato. Minato wouldn't ever trust him again _at all_.

~NARUTO~

His father was still off on his angry rant long after Kakashi left, but Naruto had stopped hearing him hours ago. He was probably just repeating himself in disbelief anyway. And Naruto had bigger things to worry about. Now that Kakashi's attempt to help Sasuke had failed, that left it all up to Naruto. It seemed that that was the way things usually ended up nowadays.

While Naruto did have a plan, it was meant to be a last resort kind of thing, and he'd really hoped a different opportunity would have presented itself by now. But, of course, it hadn't, and now Naruto was left with no choice. He'd have almost rather sold his soul to the Devil himself than carry out this plan, but his options had long ago exhausted themselves, and Sasuke wasn't getting any better on his own.

Naruto sighed to himself, partially in resignation and partially in annoyance with his father for being an ass. He was still pacing his office, gesticulating wildly, and cursing Kakashi's existence. The man really was a hypocrite, Naruto thought. He knew for a fact that he would have made the same decision in Kakashi's place. Maybe he would realize this later on when he'd calmed down. Hopefully.

--

It was nearly midnight when Minato finally went to sleep, giving Naruto his chance to leave the house undetected. They'd gone home a little while after Minato had finished his rant and discovered he couldn't work anymore that day because he was so upset. He'd brooded some more at home, especially after Naruto had refused to sleep in the same bed as his jackass father, but eventually he'd fallen asleep. Perhaps it would have been smarter to just suck it up and cuddle with the man for a while to get him to fall asleep faster, but Naruto couldn't do it. He was still too displeased with his father and his extreme reaction to Kakashi. Minato and he wouldn't be sharing a bed for a long time.

Naruto slipped from the house and silently made his way down streets and over rooftops to ANBU HQ.

"**Brat, you're not doing this**," Kyuubi growled in his head.

'_I don't have any other choice_.'

"**Yes you do. You just haven't thought about it enough, because you are a brainless idiot who thinks being nonthreatening will earn him some sympathy and get him what he wants****.**"

'_It_will _get me what I want._'

"**So would killing the insolent cretins, and that wouldn't put you in such a precarious position!**"

Naruto sighed. '_I can't kill them, Kyuubi. We've been over this. If it was that easy, someone would have done it by now_.'

"**I won't let you do this, brat! You will not pimp me out to those shameless humans like I am some kind of cheap whore! I will let you be killed before I help you with this idiotic scheme!**" Kyuubi roared, thrashing inside his cage.

'_Look, I know it's a bad idea, Kyuubi! I don't want to do it anymore than you do! But I'm doing it and there's nothing you can do to stop me! If I die because of it, so be it! So either you can shut up and go along with it, or you can think of a better plan. And killing the council is not a better plan!_" Naruto roared right back, inwardly at least.

"**You are a**_**FOOL**_**, ****Uzumaki Naruto! Of all the people I could have been sealed inside, why did it have to be YOU?!**" Kyuubi barked. He grumbled some more to himself but didn't say anything else.

Naruto didn't need Kyuubi to tell him that. He was well aware. Naruto's foolhardiness had oftentimes gotten him out of trouble just as often as it had gotten him into it. He would have to trust in it this time as well. The situation looked pretty bleak for him, but somehow things always seemed to work out. He didn't feel very confident this time around, but what was he going to do? This was the only choice left to him.

A pair of Root ANBU flanked him when the ANBU building came in sight. They'd been waiting for him, it seemed. They'd known he'd come. This pissed Naruto off to no end, but there was nothing for it. He'd already been suspecting they were doing withholding Sasuke's sharingan to back him into this corner, and now his suspicions had been confirmed. Those manipulative bastards…Naruto had never wanted to kill anyone so much in his life.

"Good evening, Naruto-kun," Mitokado greeted him heartily in their throne room. "What brings you here on this glorious night?"

All three of them were smiling at him innocently, which just emphasized how very NOT innocent they really were. Kyuubi flashed several colorful ways they could murder the three of them in Naruto's head while he simmered in his rage, and Naruto was very tempted to give into a few of them, but he resisted. Things would end up even worse than they were now for both him and Sasuke if he had the council's blood on his hands.

"You know damn well why I'm here, so let's just get this over with," Naruto said, barely keeping himself from shouting.

"Very well. Swear your loyalty to us, jinchuuriki, and we will grant your Sasuke-kun's sharingan eyes back to him."

"**Kit, I believe I have the beginnings of an idea**," Kyuubi interrupted.

'_Explain. Fast_,' Naruto ordered Kyuubi while he pretended to hesitate outwardly.

"**It is only the beginnings of an idea, brat****,**" he snapped, not liking Naruto's commanding tone. "**I haven't figured out all the details yet. We will have to wait for an opportunity after you swear our allegiance. But for now, be sure to swear your loyalty to '**_**the council**_**.' Do not use their names in your oath.**"

Naruto tried to figure out where Kyuubi would be going with that, but he couldn't decipher it. Unless, of course, the fox meant to murder the current council members and have them replaced. Well, no, that couldn't be it either. Even if he swore his loyalty to the council and not them individually, he still couldn't kill them without breaking his oath.

"**Just do as I say, brat! Before they change their minds****!**" Kyuubi interrupted his thoughts.

Naruto mentally harrumphed. Five minutes ago the damned fox had been trying to stop him from doing this, and now he was _ordering_him to do it. Ironic.

"We are waiting, brat," Danzou prompted him, bring him out of his reverie.

Naruto glared at him before an idea struck him. "I have a few conditions first.

"You are in no position to be doling out conditions," Danzou sneered at him.

"And yet I am, anyway," Naruto shot back. "If I do swear my loyalty, there must a majority vote among you before you can order me to do something." It had occurred to Naruto that the three of them might start plotting against each other once they had him under their power. It would become even more troublesome than things already were if he was caught in the middle of that. What the hell was he supposed to do if one of them told him to assassinate the other, and at the same time, the other ordered him to do the same to them? Or what if they all started sending him on missions to further their individual powers in an attempt to rise above each other? Naruto had always figured Danzou would try this, so he had to take precautions.

The three were silent for a moment as they mulled that over. Utatane and Mitokado glanced at each other and had a whole silent conversation with that single look. Naruto knew what they were thinking. Danzou could not be trusted. They knew just as well as Naruto did that Danzou would try to usurp them with Naruto's power if given the chance.

"Your request sounds reasonable, Naruto-kun," Utatane said. "Your condition will be met."

Mitokado nodded to show his agreement.

Danzou looked pissed, but he nodded as well, even as he glared at Naruto with death in his eyes.

"Good," Naruto said, "Also, you can't order me to kill the Hokage, or any other Konoha shinobi."

"We'll grant you the Hokage and loyal shinobi, but if a Konoha shinobi betrays the village, we _will_order you to kill them."

Naruto didn't like that. The idea of having to kill a comrade, even if they'd betrayed the village…he wasn't sure he'd be able to do it. But there would be no changing their minds about it, so he just nodded. "Fine," he said, and then realized that now he'd have to do the deed. With a deep sense of failure, he went down on one knee. "I, Uzumaki Naruto, swear my absolute loyalty to the council, until my death." Once the simple yet heavy words had left his mouth, Naruto felt like he weighed a ton. His life was officially lost to him. It now belonged to the three people he despised the most in this world.

"Excellent," Mitokado said with a smile. "You will find your necessary equipment in your room when you return home. Come back tomorrow afternoon and we will give you your first mission."

Naruto looked up at them incredulously. "Already?"

"Don't fret. It is only a test mission, to make sure you'll keep your word."

"But what about Otou-san? He'll notice if I just leave the village without a good reason."

"Oh, don't worry about your father. We'll have the necessary documents made up to allow you to leave on another mission. Others will do that mission in your stead while you complete your _real_mission."

Naruto pursed his lips at them. They'd obviously done this kind of thing before.

"And what of Sasuke's eyes?"

Utatane smiled at him. "They'll be back in his head by morning, as promised."

Naruto gave them all a long calculating stare before nodding and walking out silently. He had nothing left to say to them, and he'd had just about enough of them as he could take for one day.

The Root that had guided him inside escorted him back out, and he was home in ten minutes.

He stared at the black bundle on his bed for a long time. Part of him was curious as to what was inside it, while another dreaded what he would find. He had an inkling of what would be in there. Probably ANBU armor, mask, and katana. There'd be the suicide pill that would destroy his body almost instantly if he were ever to find himself in a position where he would be killed on a mission. ANBU didn't leave bodies behind for enemies to pick over and learn secrets from. Of course there'd be new kunai and shuriken, maybe a cloak for missions in colder countries, and perhaps a pack to put all his things in when he needed to travel long distances.

He knew what would be in the bundle, but when he opened it and found it all, he knew his new reality would come crashing down on him. Part of him still hadn't acknowledged that the council owned him now. That part of him would be brutally murdered when he pulled the rope holding the bundle together and found all his new equipment, sharp and shiny, waiting to be put to use.

"**There's no going back now, brat. This is the bed you've made for yourself. Now lay in it**," Kyuubi said coldly. He was clearly still upset with him for selling them so cheaply. Or at least cheaply in his opinion.

He hated it, but Kyuubi was right. Gritting his teeth, Naruto pulled the rope and opened the package. He found all the things he'd known he would and more. There were also scrolls in the bundle; some were seals, some were medical, and others were summons. What they would summon, Naruto had no idea, nor did he plan on ever finding out. He had his own summons anyway. There were also various antidotes for poisons, a hefty supply of ration bars, soldier pills, and a first-aid kit. Also, there was a little card mixed in with a date, time, and location for him to go to tomorrow to get his ANBU tattoo. Naruto flung it across his bed, not in the mood to care about the damned appointment.

He picked up his new mask. He'd expected the council to be unoriginal and give him a fox mask, but he was almost pleasantly surprised to find it was a falcon—or some kind of bird of prey, at least. He couldn't tell for sure, but falcon was the first thing that came to mind. He ran his fingers over the smooth surface of the porcelain, tracing the marks around the eyes. He turned it over to try it on and found a note taped inside.

He pulled it out and unfolded it. At the top of the page was an ink drawing of a falcon in flight. Naruto recognized the style of the art immediately—Sai. Below the drawing was an excerpt from a book or something that said:

'_Falcons symbolize success. They are the emblem of victory and rising above a situation. They oftentimes symbolize superiority, spirit, light, freedom, and aspiration. At its core, the falcon represents visionary power, wisdom, and guardianship. This powerful bird awakens visionary power and leads you to your life's purpose. The falcon carries with it a message of transition and change. Falcons encourage us to calculate and strategize—focus. When they show themselves to us, they call us to focus on our desires and our goals, and to do what is necessary to bring our desires into reality._'

And below that was a note from Sai.

"Naruto,  
I'm sorry. Does this help?  
Sai."

Naruto snorted at Sai's personal note, but couldn't help but smile at it at the same time. It was so like him. And amazingly, it did help. He'd been angry with Sai for outing Kakashi like he had, but he finally realized that he hadn't had a choice. He'd sworn his loyalty to Danzou, so he had to obey his orders. It wasn't personal. It was good to know he had a friend who believed in him. And really just a friend that knew about his position. It hadn't occurred to him before, but he was going to have a hard time lying to everyone about it. Even if Sai wasn't his closest friend, and even if he usually drove Naruto insane, at least he'd have someone to talk to openly when he needed to.

The note gave him courage, which he sorely needed. He wasn't firmly under anyone's thumb _yet_.

**Review?o.o**


End file.
